Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah qualified for a new final on the ATP circuit, the first in 2022. It will be at the Masters 1.000 in Monte Carlo, where they agreed after defeating in two sets the pair formed by Luxembourgian Jean Julien Rojer and Salvadoran Marcelo Arévalo in the semifinals of the tournament played on clay.
The Colombian duo won with 7-5 and 6-3 partials in a match where they again did not give up a single break point and it was enough for them to break the service of their rivals twice, one in each set, to qualify for the first time to the final in the Monegasque tournament. Another of Cabal and Farah's strengths was with their first serve, where they not only won three aces, but they got 81% of the points earned with the first serve.
In the grand final, which will be played on Sunday, April 17 at 4:30 in the morning at Court Rainier III, will face British Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram, the number 1 pre-ranked couple and the favorites to win the title. This will be the first match between both couples in 2022 and will mean an improvement in the ranking towards the masters tournament for the Colombian duo.
In 2022, Farah and Cabal had not managed to play the final of any tournament. The highest stage reached had been the quarterfinals. The first tournament where they reached the Quarterfinals was in Sydney, where they fell in that round to locals Alexei Popyrin and Matt Reid. Then it was at the Mexican Open in Acapulco where they fell in the quarterfinals against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Feliciano López.
At a press conference prior to their trip to Europe to start the brick dust tour, which culminates in the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros, they stated that clay is the favorite ground of both Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah. Both expected Monte Carlo to be the start of the improvement this season that has them relegated to the ranking for the masters tournament, and so it was:
The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, reigning champion and third favorite, did not fail against German Alexander Zverev (6-4 and 6-2) and entered the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 whose title he will defend against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich. It was the Helleno that won the classic of the new times. The clashes between Tsitsipas and Zverev, settled years ago among the best on the circuit and contenders for each major event, are already common. In fact, in the Country Club they were measured for the tenth time.
Tsitsipas will play his nineteenth final, the fourth in a Masters 1000, with only one success, last year's on this stage, and two defeats, in Madrid and Canada. He is aiming for the eighth trophy of his career, the first of this year in his second final after the one in Rotterdam.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will be the rival of Alejandro Davidovich, who previously settled his semifinal against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. It will be the reunion between the Greek and the Spaniard, who have already seen each other in the quarterfinals of this same tournament. The Andalusian retired after losing the first set 7-5. The Helleno won the competition. This season, in Rotterdam, they also coincided. Second round. Tsitsipas won again, in three sets, on hard court.
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