Comeback Colombians: Farah/Cabal Repeat As Rome Champs
Serving at 4-3, 0/40 in the Rome doubles final on Sunday, Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah did what they've done all week at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Stayed calm and rallied.
The Colombians were down 2/7 in the Match Tie-break during their quarter-final against Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan, but saved four match points to reach the semi-finals. On Saturday evening, the longtime Colombian pairing lost the first set 6-2 after only 29 minutes against top seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo, yet recovered to prevail in another Match Tie-break.
On Sunday, however, Cabal/Farah skipped the heroics, beating Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus 6-1, 6-3 in only 59 minutes to repeat as Rome champions and win their second ATP Masters 1000 title.
“I kept repeating to myself and to [Cabal], 'If we come back from this game, we got it. Let's just focus to come back from this game,'” Farah said. “And I feel like when you win tournaments, things go your way. That's the way it is. I don't know what it is, I don't know how to explain it... When it's yours, it's yours.”
Cabal/Farah have now won two of the biggest ATP Tour titles this European clay-court swing, having won the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell last month, and they will head into Roland Garros as one of the favourites to make a deep run.
Read Flashback: Cabal/Farah Win Barcelona Title
“We just keep fighting, keep fighting point by point,” Cabal said. “We got the level. We know we can beat anyone and that's what we focus on.”
Cabal/Farah gained two early breaks en route to a 5-0 lead before serving out the opener. Klaasen/Venus rebounded in the second, but the Colombians won eight of the final nine points. The pairing will receive 1,000 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €284,860.
“Every time you win a 1000 event, it's something very special. There are no words to describe it. To go back-to-back is even more impressive,” Farah said. “It just builds up our confidence as a team.”
Klaasen/Venus were going for their first Masters 1000 team title. They will receive 600 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €139,020.
“We got off to a somewhat sloppy and slow start and that cost us,” Klaasen said. “We had a few chances, but we obviously aren't happy with how things went out there, and they were too good for us today.”