Pedro Cachín celebrates his victory over Brandon Holt. Photo: AFP
East US Open confirms it in grand slams the rule has no exceptions. Because history is played out, because great stories are told, because there are great consecrations and the world despises great champions. The records, in some cases, are accumulated in a small group of players, but they are not the only pole of attraction. This type of tournament has magic for almost everyone. And it’s so amazing because you don’t even have to make it to a final on Saturday or Sunday for someone to feel like he has already won. The stories of the great heroes are well known, but For the world of tennis, the light it sheds on unknown stories is fascinating..
In this case the story of Pedro Cachin it’s exciting, really. Personally, it leads me to identify myself in a process that, without having spoken to him, allows me to perfectly understand what he is going through in these hours of emotion after passing the third round in Flushing Mews, in his best adventure in a big tournament. Surely, at this moment, he is unable to put into words everything that goes through his mind.
Because from his native Bell Ville, there in Córdoba, going in search of the dream of becoming a professional was not so easy. His energy was so strong and so great that some minor tournaments in Spain gave him the opportunity to meet Alex Corretja. The former world number two and Spanish tennis legend was asked to meet an Argentine who had traveled with his father and played small tournaments on the outskirts of Barcelona. He saw it and immediately made the correct diagnosis. He said to his father: “His son plays very well, but it will take him many years to get to where we would like to be because he was racing from far behind. He needs time to exploit and understand what the circuit is like.”
Pedro, who never doubted his beliefs and possibilities, had to fight against himself to break that provincial shyness. That shyness with which those like us who came from within makes us almost ashamed to find ourselves in such a large and prestigious tournament by sharing costumes with great figures. Surely the same thing happened to Pedro as to me, when I once found myself in a locker room in Wimbledon and the first thing I thought was: “What am I doing here, I’m ashamed to be in this place”. Error in that feeling, but it has to do with the magnitude of what has been achieved, which often exceeds one’s capacity for assimilation.
Pedro’s path was very difficult. It was very difficult because he had to face, like so many other stories, enormous limits such as living in the community rooms and facing all the difficulties that can be imagined from someone who has no financial resources, but who is determined that nothing will stop him.
How is Cachin? It is worth taking a couple of photos to get to know him a little more. Pedro is one of those people who would like to be bishop because he is a reserved, quiet and familiar type. So great was his heart and his belief that he managed to extend his family to Spain. And that adoptive family was that of Alex Corretja, with whom he talks or exchanges messages every day of his life.
} Today just Alex told me that for him it was as if his little brother had won and that for Signor Corretja, Alex’s father, it was as if his nephew had won. And for Alex’s daughters, who immediately hugged each other as soon as the match against Brandon Holt was over, it’s as if his brother had won. Because Cachín, precisely for the Corretja, has gradually become a member of that family that he shares, lives, values and enjoys what he has just achieved.
Until recently, the Futures and some Challengers were the places Pedro moved to. And Alex told me what took him the longest was to convince him that Pedro had the means to be much taller. And that in every Grand Slam that Alex was the message was a custom, a habit: “Pedrito, I don’t understand why you’re not in this type of tournament. You don’t miss anything. You just have to realize that what you already have is more than enough to be able to swim in these waters, playing at this level.”
This demand in the form of a claim ultimately paid off. And there you can understand the tears he shed as soon as the game is over. He wasn’t the only one crying with emotion. It’s just that there are clearly a lot of people around, like his current manager, Dante Genaro, who gave his life for him and helped him a lot so that he could make this long-awaited leap. Because Pedro’s humility allowed him, despite the difficulties and bitterness he went through for having left everything to insist on his dream, to never be alone. The Corretja, for whom he also roasts at their home in Barcelona to return some of their generosity, and Genaro are examples of people who supported his career and who, once met, never stopped accompanying him. .
The concrete thing is that Pedro is, and was already in anonymity, synonymous with gladiator, synonymous with combat. And as an Argentine thinks about it, as we also said in the case of Facundo Bagnis in a column I wrote about him, how nice it would be if our country had more men like him. Everything would be easier.
Let’s go back to the beginning. At this US Open, as is often the case in other Grand Slams, there will clearly be more than one winner. It remains only to see who will accompany him by winning this title in about ten days. Because here Pedro can celebrate in peace. And this still has a long way to go.
Javier Frana
Source: Clarin
