Cabal/Farah Win First Indoor Title In Moscow
Cabal/Farah Win First Indoor Title In Moscow
Colombian duo still in contention for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah won their fourth doubles title of 2016 on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup, fighting hard to take a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 victory over the veteran Austrian duo of Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer.
“It’s very special to win our first indoor title. We [had] never won more than one match at an indoor tournament,” said Cabal. “We felt very supported out there. We felt they were cheering for a high-quality tennis match and that’s what they got.”
Currently No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the Colombian duo is in contention to make their first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Their win in Moscow puts them within 500 points of No. 8 team Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi.
“Of course, we’ve been thinking about this. We are in the race and very close,” said Farah. “But what’s most important at the moment is winning this title and what it represents. We are very happy to have one more title in our pocket.”
The Colombian pairing showed their fighting spirit on several occasions during the contest. Knowle/Melzer attempted to serve out the first set at 5-4, but Cabal/Farah bounced back by breaking their opponents twice to steal the opening set. The Austrians stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but Cabal/Farah clawed their way back to 4-5 before Knowle/Melzer held serve and sent the contest to a Match Tie-break.
It appeared that Knowle/Melzer were on their way to a win after taking a 3-0 lead, but Cabal/Farah once again rebounded and dominated the remainder of the match. A missed overhead by Knowle on match point wrapped up the contest.
Cabal/Farah have previously won titles this year in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Nice. All eight of their career ATP World Tour doubles titles have come together as a team.
Knowle/Melzer were competing on the ATP World Tour together for the first time in three years, in part due to Melzer’s recent 10-month absence with a shoulder injury. Both players were competing in their first ATP World Tour final of 2016.
Cabal/Farah earn 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $38,540 for their win, while Knowle/Melzer pick up 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $20,260.