“This one just because of the whole thing, of course I had it in the back of my mind, then I lost here twice the finals. I was pretty close even before. Of course, you have it, you have it there in your mind, you want to win.
“We were serving, he was serving for the match, and then those few crazy points happened. It was just a lot of emotions going through and it was stressful and it was not easy, not easy to play, at least for me personally.”
In a nod to three-time singles champion Gustavo Kuerten, El Savador’s Aravelo drew a heart in the clay and lay down on the court in celebration at his most successful major.
“I just felt a lot of love in that moment, yeah. But it was maybe a little bit, when I was growing up, Guga Kuerten was one of my favourite players,” Arevalo said. “I remember watching him when I was a kid on the TV. I remember watching him winning three titles here. I remember his celebration. I got his fire.”