So next week is the official start of the clay court season. And one of the first ones is gonna be held in Houston ATP Tournament. First round is giving us an encounter between Chilean Christian Garin and Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas. Both talented players will play in a serious confrontation. Review our thoughts on this match here below.

 

Christian Garin

Garin surprised a lot last season having one to remember. Christian won 3 challenger titles all of them on his beloved clay. And finished the season in a very solid 50 wins and 22 losses record. This year he started as a top 100 player in Australia and it was a start of the season to forget so after his poor performances on hard he switched back on clay. But results were similar as in his first two tournaments he had a difficult draw and lost to Cecchinato and this year’s Canadian sensation Auger – Aliassime. However, in his last tournament in Sao Paulo Garin did really well and ended up as runner up and only lost to Guido Pella which would’ve been his first ATP title but instead it was also a maiden title for Guido.

Garin’s game is based on points from the baseline and is mostly relied on his monster forehand. The serve isn’t great but the footwork is very good. Solid under pressure.

 

Pablo Cuevas

Pablo Cuevas – a clay court master a national hero. Already a veteran who had a great career also after coming back from serious injury. Last season he arguably had his worst season to date. This season, however, seems like Pablo is having yet another comeback. Mostly playing on clay he had some brilliant wins against Diego Schwartzman, Albert Ramos, Alijaz Bedene, Jo Tsonga and others. In other words, he’s in a gear. His style of play is aggressive which also made him achieve some decent results on faster surfaces in the past.

Cuevas has a great topspin forehand and a beautiful single-handed backhand. Hits great from both wings. Also has a super touch at the net cause he’s a brilliant doubles player and multiple title holder. Moves very well. Has a great character and is mentally very strong. Also has a good serve especially likes his kick serve to ad court which he often uses as a first serve and is very effective.

 

H2H

Players have not met before.

 

Article Image Taken from https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/tennis/92566825/shot-of-the-year-from-uruguays-pablo-cuevas-at-madrid-open