Historical event: Horacio Ceballos is the first Argentine number 1 player in tennis :: Ole
“There has never been a number one man in Argentine tennis,” we wrote this Wednesday, predicting the possibility of something historic happening this Thursday. Because this concept is already part of the past: Horacio Ceballos He is the first older Argentine to reach the top of the rankings. Historical.
Zebolla ended up in accounting when ascending to the highest level of the paired listwhich was also achieved by his partner Marcel Granollers, who achieved this by winning the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000, a tournament that was left without Argentines in the singles after the defeat of Francisco Cerundolo.
The man from Mar del Plata and the Spaniard, the second favorites of the tournament, They defeated Monegasque Hugo Nis and Pole Jan Zielinski (seventh seed) with scores of 4-6, 6-2 and 16-14. reach the semi-finals and, more importantly, become the No. 1 official on the ATP Pairs list from next Monday.
The final set (tie-breaker is played at 10 or instead of two) was a heart-breaking set for the duo. Ceballos served with his second serve at 12-13 (match point against) and saved an incredible volley for 14-14. Granollers then did the same and Zebolla made a smart pass to make it 15-14. Finally, on the third match point, an imperfect return from the Spanish serve. accomplished a feat and embraced the new kings of tennis in doubles.
A couple of weeks ago, on April 15, Monday, the day the ratings are usually published, The 38-year-old left-hander put out a message saying he was happy to once again become the world number three in doubles.. And he said that he was not going to stop there… And he didn’t stop.
“I’m very glad to return to my best rating!!! A lot of work, dedication and passion lead to these moments of satisfaction. And now continue to achieve new goals, continue to dream and believe that you will give everything!!! Thank you to all the people who day after day lead me to my best results and to the support of all of you. Let’s!!!!“, he wrote. This Thursday he completed it.
Paradoxically, the defeat helped the duo. Because Ceballos and Granollers lost last year in their Madrid Open debut and therefore did not defend points this week, they used their victories to date to add everything rather than subtract anything from the rankings. Thus, with 7490 units they passed on to the already former No. 1 Matthew Ebden, who has 7,310 points after losing his debut in Madrid, is tied with India’s Rohan Bopanna at No. 2 on the list..
It just so happened (actually because they always play together), that Zeballos and Granollers accumulate the same number of units and that is why they are both leading in the ranking. In the case of exes 1 and 2, they changed partners, so there was only one 1 on the list.
The paradox of Zeballos and Granollers is that not only have they never won a Grand Slam – they have reached the final of Wimbledon, the US Open and even the ATP final – and this year they still have not won a single tournament, despite what they played in the Auckland, Buenos Aires and Indian Wells Masters 1000 definitions. Madrid will give them the opportunity to lose their virginity in 2024.. This Friday the semi-finals, the schedule of which will be determined later, vs. Uruguayan Ariel Behar and Czech Adam Pavlasek.
In fact, Zebolla, although not ranked in the top ten in singles, had the pleasure of winning the tournament, and none other than Rafa Nadal, in Viña del Mar. That February 10, 2013 (the year he achieved his best position in the personal list, 39th place in the ATP), The southpaw was one of four players to defeat La Fiera in a clay court match…
Never been the #1 man before; yes, women
In our country there has never been a man No. 1 among adults, although among young men he was, as, for example, Mariano Zabaleta, Sebastian Baez, Thiago Tirante… The top national ranking in men’s singles was Guillermo Vilas, who took 2nd place out of 15. Those who reached 3rd place were exactly three: Guillermo Coria (2003), David Nalbandian (2006) and Juan Martin del Potro (2018).
Some older women also did not have a single top; Gabriela Sabatini reached third place in 1989.. On the other hand, Argentina have registered two of their best doubles players in different years.
Paola Suarez and Gisela Dulco, the only Argentine number one older in age.
Paola Suarez was number 1 along with Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual in 2002, 2003 and 2004, while Gisela Dulko He arrived with Italian Flavia Pennetta in 2010.