Zeballos and Granollers claim victory in 2021 Madrid Masters 1000, eyeing the number one ranking

The day Zeballos and Granollers were crowned in the 2021 Madrid Masters 1000 against the Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (EFE/Rodrigo Jiménez)

Argentine tennis is experiencing a historic match with the presence of Horacio Zeballos in the quarterfinals of the doubles draw of the Madrid Masters 1000: in the company of the Spanish Marcel Granollers, they currently face Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. Although the key fact is that victory in this instance would leave them virtually ranked number 1 in the world regardless of what happens later in a hypothetical semifinal.

The 39-year-old player took to the field alongside the Spaniard to seek a victory that would see him and his teammate leap to the top of the rankings next Monday. In front are the Monegasque Nys (33 years old, ranked 19th in the world) and the Polish Zielinski (27 years old, 18th).

The winner of this confrontation will go to the semifinals against the duo composed of the Uruguayan Ariel Behar (39th) and the Czech Adam Pavlásek (40th). On the other side of the draw, the finalist will emerge as the winner of the clash between the duo of Sebastian Korda and Jordan Thompson vs. that of Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.

The duo that makes up the Argentine arrived in the capital of Spain in the third place of the world ranking, both with 7,130 points. They were behind the Australian, Matthew Ebden, and the Indian, Rohan Bopanna, who are usually a couple in tournaments and had a distance that was not close. However, the defeat of the finalists of the last edition in the 16th of this competition caused Zeballos and Granollers to dream big. The live count indicates that they already have 7310 points and have secured second place, behind the Australian Ebden (7390).

Only three Argentines were at number 1 in the tennis ranking: Paola Suárez, Gisela Dulko (both doubles) and Gustavo Fernández (wheelchair adapted tennis). In this select list, the name of Guillermo Vilas does not appear. Its mere mention generates immediate controversy because a review request was made years ago to be granted that label in two periods: at the end of 1975 and at the beginning of 1976. This request came after the journalist and tennis historian, Eduardo Puppo, you found discrepancies in the statistics. In May 2015, the British Chris Kermode, head of the ATP, rejected the request and argued in an interview with The New York Times that “it is impossible to rewrite history.”

Horacio Zeballos always stood out for being a true doubles player and the statistics show this with only one final won out of two played in singles (Viña del Mar 2013), while with a ladero he has won 20 titles, among which stand out six Masters 1000, five of them achieved with the company of the Spanish Marcel Granollers. Both won in Madrid in 2021. All those scrolls led him to play in the Davis Cup with the Argentine team.

In his entire career, the Argentine has 342 wins and 208 losses in doubles. According to the ATP on his official website, he was awarded financial prizes worth more than USD 7,870,000. Until Madrid, his best ranking was third place. So far in 2024, he has not yet won trophies, but he reached the finals of the Auckland ATP 250, Argentina Open and the Indian Wells Masters with Granollers.

2024-05-02 15:01:18
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