Salvadoran tennis player Marcelo Arévalo (Sonsonate, El Salvador; October 17, 1990) made history by becoming the first Central American to win a Grand Slam after winning the Roland Garros 2022 doubles title with his partner, the Dutchman Jean- Julien Rojer, who also has ties to the American continent for having been born in Curaçao, a Caribbean island that is a colony of the Netherlands.
The Arévalo-Rojer duo surprised the Croatian Ivan Dodig and the American Austin Krajicek, by partials of 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/5) and 6-3, in a final that lasted just over three hours on the main court of the Parisian clay, on the Philippe Chatrier court.
Arévalo had already made history days before by getting the pass to the last battle and becoming the first Central American finalist of a Grand Slam in the men’s doubles branch, since he had already achieved a runner-up in this category but in the mixed doubles category, along with the Mexican Giuliana Olmos, at the US Open last year.
“This is a personal achievement, but it is also for my country”, declared Marcelo Arévalo in the press conference after his victory in the Roland Garros 2022 semifinals, in which he added: “I am playing for a lot of people in El Salvador, There are a lot of people who support me.”
Wrapped in the flag of his country, Arévalo flashed a huge smile on the Paris clay as he received the title as champion alongside Jean-Julien Rojer, replacing the Frenchmen who triumphed at home last year, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut .
In that smile is also immersed the sacrifice that Arévalo had to make from a very young age in order to become an elite tennis player and consecrate himself in a Grand Slam. His taste for tennis began when he was seven years old thanks to the encouragement of his parents, who were also dedicated to this sport, but since they were not a family of prominent resources, he had to adjust to various precariousness to continue advancing. .
In an interview with the ATP Tour, Arevalo recalled that there was a time when his meal was canned tuna and bread, as resources were sometimes not enough while he was playing tennis away from home. “We couldn’t afford to go to a restaurant to eat pasta or meat, but we always ate. Many tennis players have gone through the same thing too, especially from our region. We don’t have it easy, but that gives us strength”.
In the same way, he reported that he had to make long truck trips to move to Mexico or Costa Rica in order to continue his tennis preparation, until he was finally able to settle at the University of Tulsa and settle in Florida as a professional tennis player. .
“This has been from the effort my parents made to take me from Sonsonate to San Salvador to train once a week; then twice; then three, until I went to live in San Salvador with my sister. For this reason, I know that it has been an effort for many years and it means a lot to me, ”she recalled in an interview with the Salvadoran newspaper Cancha in February 2021.
Now he can boast an important star not only for him, but for his entire native region: “We were lucky to get this match and we are very lucky to have won and to be living this. I want to thank the atmosphere that was experienced in this stadium and thank everyone involved in Roland Garros from the judges to the ball boys. Thank you, Paris, and thank you, Roland Garros, ”said the Salvadoran in his award speech.
Roland Garros 2022 was the ninth ATP Tour final for Marcelo Arévalo in doubles, but the first at the Grand Slam level (not counting mixed doubles). Another seven were disputed at the 250 level and one more at the 500 level, having titles in Los Cabos, Winston Salem, Dallas and Delray Beach. This year he had been runner-up in the Acapulco Open, falling alongside Jean-Julien Rojer against the duo of Feliciano López and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
According to what he had planned on his agenda, after the title he won at Roland Garros, Marcelo Arévalo had planned to participate in the Libema Open in the Netherlands, which is the starting tournament of the grass-court season that ends at Wimbledon, but, above all, hour, the tennis player decided to travel to El Salvador to enjoy the title with his people.
The National Institute of Sports of El Salvador (INDES) also confirmed that it will hold an act in his honor at the Amphitheater of the National Museum of Anthropology (MUNA), in addition to the fact that the Legislative Assembly will award him the recognition as Meritísimo Son of El Salvador, as announced by the president of the legislative body, Eduardo Castro, marking the great national history that emerged from Marcelo Arévalo at Roland Garros.