Brazil Open: Pablo Cuevas wins 3rd straight title at Sao Paulo after 2 days of rain-delays

Sao Paulo: Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay has won his third straight Brazil Open — but it took him two days to do it. In the rain-delayed clay-court tournament, Cuevas finally wrapped up the title on Monday with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain. [caption id=“attachment_3319050” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Pablo Cuevas with the Brazil Open trophy. Image courtesy: Twitter/@BrasilOpenTenis[/caption] The Spaniard won the first set on Sunday, but the second set was stopped by rain at 3-3 and deuce with Ramos Vinolas serving. The break gave the Uruguayan time to rally. The final was due to restart on Monday at noon local time (1500 GMT) but it was past 6pm (2100 GMT) before the persistent rain relented and the contest could restart. The players again waited all afternoon for the rain to stop. Once play resumed, Cuevas, the world No 33, quickly took control, winning the second set 6-4 and then taking the third by the same score against the second-seeded Spaniard who is ranked 24th. Cuevas picked the most unorthodox way to finish the match. On second serve on his fourth match point, the Uruguayan tapped an underhand serve to Ramos-Vinolas, who rushed to the service box and successfully returned the surprise tactic. However, Cuevas eventually won the point and made tournament history, becoming the first player since the tournament began in 2001 to win three consecutive titles. Spaniard Nicolas Almagro has won the tournament three times but only two of his titles were successive. Cuevas has won six ATP singles titles — all on clay, and three in this event in Sao Paulo. (With inputs from agencies)