Kyrgios/Tsitsipas Fall To Wimbledon Champs Cabal/Farah In Washington

All eyes were on Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Monday evening at the Citi Open, where the singles stars teamed for the first time on the doubles court. But top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah stole the show, eliminating the Greek-Australian duo 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in a 66-minute first-round encounter.

The Wimbledon champions have shone brightly this year, as Cabal and Farah are leading the ATP Doubles Race To London by 2,410 points over second-placed Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. And their level showed against Kyrgios and Tsitsipas, winning 92 per cent (34/37) of their first-serve points en route to the second round.

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Although Kyrgios and Tsitsipas showed flashes of their shotmaking abilities, it was the Colombians who consistently were in the right place at the right time, putting themselves in perfect positions to poach at the net, and also placing returns back at the server’s feet instead of in the vicinity of the net player.

Cabal and Farah had few issues in the opening set, not facing break point. And it appeared everything was going their way after a highlight-reel moment on the first point at 1-1, when Cabal fell to the court right in front of the net to avoid getting hit by a Tsitsipas forehand. Instead of completely ducking out of the way, he poked his racquet above the net and somehow reflexed an incredible volley into the court, eventually allowing his team to win the point.

The pair’s only slip came while Farah served at 2-3 in the second set. Even though he served well throughout the match, he double faulted on the only break point his team faced, allowing Kyrgios and Tsitsipas to take the advantage and force a Match Tie-break.

Once there, though, the Colombians dominated with their serves, winning all seven of their service points and earning three of four second-serve return points to come out on top. Cabal finished it off with a forehand volley winner.

In the other doubles match of the day in Washington, second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 4-6, 6-3, 10-5, giving Melo his 500th tour-level win. He is the first Brazilian to accomplish the feat in doubles.

It was a match between two teams inside the Top 10 of the ATP Doubles Race To London, and the key was that Kubot and Melo won four of seven return points in the Match Tie-break.