Pablo Cuevas is the sensational champion of 25. Vegeta Croatia Open, the first qualifier to do that after full 23 years. Cuevas has won his second ATP Tournament in a row and marked his thirteenth victory in a row.
He defeated our Mate Delić in the first round and the first seed Fabio Fognini in the semifinals, Cuevas convincingly outplayed the title defender Tommy Robredo in two sets (6:3, 6:4) and thus repeated the success of the Ukranian Dimitri Poliakov from 1991. He's the first player from Uruguay to lift the champion's trophy in Umag and the second qualifier to win an ATP tournament this year.
The jubilee 25. Vegeta Croatia Open has attracted a lot of
attention from tennis fans all around the world. The tournament was
visited by over 80.000 people who could enjoy many exciting
matches. The program of Istria Gourmet Festival was quite popular
as well as the concerts of ATP Party Night, that were attended by
thousands of people each night.
I didn't even dream about winning in Umag
"I would be happy with one tournament victory, but I am thrilled
with two", said the new champion of Umag Pablo Cuevas, who won the
tournament in Bastad two weeks earlier. Even so, after two ATP
World Tour tournaments, he travels to play a Challenger, because he
was planning on playing in that tournament when he was ranked 111
in the world, and after Umag he will be somewhere around the Top
40.
Has he ever had 13 wins in a row before in his career? "Never. I
was extremely focused here all week and I was consistent in my
game, that's what led me to my goal", he said.
Victory against Tommy Robredo in the finals is especially dear to
him. "Robredo is an excellent player, especially on clay, that's
what makes this win even more important."
Cuevas couldn't play for two years due to an injury and the
operation he had to undergo. "During that time I couldn't even
imagine I would be able to come back so high up in the rankings.
Not even up to the ranking that I used to have".
