Horace Zeballos Falls Short in Wimbledon Final, Seeking First Grand Slam Victory

It’s been a while since Horace Zeballos He is on the verge of a great achievement, but he has also been confirming his excellent level for a while in that field far from the great flashes of the circuit that is the universe of doubles. The 38-year-old from Mar del Plata, together with the Spaniard Marcel Granollerslost in the Wimbledon final againstthe duo that as of Monday will be the number one in the world, the one made up of the British Neal Skupski and the Dutch Wesley Koolhof, by a double 6-4. In this way, the Argentine could not realize the dream of winning a Grand Slam, despite having reached the decisive match for the third time, after the US Open 2019 and Wimbledon 2021.

The first set started with the level expected of a final of this magnitude, with each one holding their serve. Until the seventh game came, in which the first fissure of the match occurred: they broke Granollers’ serve and Skupski-Koolhof took advantage. After that, the favorites held their two services – in the middle Zeballos did the same – and took the first set 6-4. The numbers were eloquent: the winners of the opening set did not register any unforced errors.

There was a similar development in the second set, but this time the break for the favorites came earlier, in the fifth game, on the serve of the Argentine, who raised two break points but could not avoid the third. In addition to not giving loopholes to lose their services, Skupski-Koolhof pressed every time Zeballos or Granollers served. The trend continued and each one held their serve until it was 6-4 that sealed the game.

“We are happy to have been in the final. The rivals deserved the victory. If before starting the tournament, they told me that I was going to reach the final, I would sign it”, were the optimistic words of Horacio Zeballos after receiving the prize for second place. “Hopefully one day it will happen,” completed Granollers, his partner for four years.

It was a first level final fp – AFP

In the semifinals, played on Court 1 on Thursday, Zeballos and Granollers defeated the Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-4, 6-3. Zeballos is the second Argentine to be a finalist in the Wimbledon doubles. The first was Javier Franain 1991, who in the company of the Mexican Leonardo Lavalle, lost in the decisive match against the duo made up of the Swede Anders Jarryd and the Australian John Fitzgerald.

“Cebolla”, as the left-hander is known, a nickname he inherited from his father Horacio, former player, teacher and manager of the Edison Lawn Tennis Club in Mar del Plata, is already the Argentine with the most doubles titles on the professional circuit, with 19 trophies. During the first tours on the doubles tour, he had the Chilean Julio Peralta as his partner. With the Catalan Granollers they began to play as a couple since mid-2019, when they agreed to play the Canadian Masters 1000, on the North American tour on cement; they won it and then reached the final of the US Open. Both understood that there was good chemistry and they decided to continue competing together on the circuit. With Granollers as a partner, Zeballos added seven titles (they won the Masters 1000 in Canada, Rome, Madrid and Cincinnati) and reached 5 other finals, including the US Open 2019 and Wimbledon 2021. Two years ago, they could not face the Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, with a narrow defeat in four sets. Now, it’s time to try again.

“One always arrives at a tournament with the illusion of repeating those types of results. I think we had played well two years ago. Last year, even though we didn’t play Wimbledon [porque no daba puntos], we had won the tournament in Halle. We feel comfortable on grass, Marcel and I are good players, that makes us confident that we can perform on all kinds of surfaces. I am happy with the performance here and to be back in the final,” Zeballos told THE NATION from London, after winning the semifinal.

They did not win any title in these months, but they did reach the semifinals at the Australian Open, at Roland Garros, and the definition in Geneva. “When you start the year, he thinks about adding the number of points necessary to play the Masters at the end of the year. That’s how we started it. This year in particular, we started off well, then we had a major slump where we lost several first rounds. So we change the objectives and think about reconnecting as a couple, see what we do. That way before we traveled less because the results were taking place. So we thought about what to do to get together and have a competitive level again, from there we traveled a little more, we spent more weeks on the circuit, we went to smaller tournaments, we gained confidence again, we trained together and we found that level again, and things were happening. We played a challenger, we played an ATP 250, things started to go well for us again in Rome, then at Roland Garros, and here we are,” Zeballos said.

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2023-07-15 17:04:00
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