Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah could not win their first title at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo (Monaco). This Sunday the Colombian tennis players fell in the final of the tournament to American Rajeev Ram, and British Joe Salisbury 4-6, 6-3 and 7-10 in an hour and 37 minutes of the match.
The national duo, which had not performed well so far this year, reversed the trend after qualifying for their first final in this competition, which represented the opening of the brick dust season. In the decisive match they had in front of the number one couple in the world, according to the ATP ranking; however, they ended up losing in a tight match, which had to be defined in the super tie-break.
Unlike previous tournaments, Cabal and Farah looked solid in the service, reaching an ERA of 71%. This figure was very similar to that of their rivals, who scored 70% effectiveness from the serve. However, one of the points that would frame the final would be the inability to specify the break points, in both teams.
The first set was even and did not allow for many opportunities to take advantage of the scoreboard. The Colombians took advantage of their service games, but they had complications in the return, as Ram and Salisbury made very powerful shots that made it difficult, for example, to respond with the volleys on the net.
The opening round was defined by a break, which came for the American and the British in 3-3. Although at the close of the set it seemed that the Colombians could regain lost ground, their rivals completed several first serves and were able to hit first (4-6).
In the second set, Cabal and Farah came out putting pressure on the opponents, who made more unforced errors than usual. The service was a section in which they also improved, and, therefore, Ram and Salisbury did not have great options to go bankrupt again. In the third serve game of their rivals, the Colombians would have the first option of 'break', but they did not specify.
In total, the 'Cafeteria' duo required six options to be able to break, for the first time, the service of the British and the American. The break occurred in 4-3 in favor and then they were able to confirm the triumph of the second set in the deuce (6-3). In the middle of the winning point, Ram took a ball in the lower part of his stomach.
Already in the super tie-break (which is played at 10 points), the national tennis players sinned because of some errors in the return. Similarly, Ram and Salisbury were lethal at the time of climbing the mesh. The match and the title were defined with a 7-10.
This was Cabal and Farah's sixth final in Masters 1000 tournaments and number 40 as a team at the ATP level. The last time they had fought for the title in a contest in this category was in Cincinnati 2019. In the history they only have two titles of this type: Rome 2018 and 2019.
For Ram and Salisbury, who premiered in the first place of the world ranking last Monday, it represented the second trophy in Masters 1000. Let us recall that they had been consecrated in the Canadian tournament last year. In addition, the American and the British extended their dominance in the 'hand to mano' against Cabal and Farah: the record is now 5-1.
The Colombian tennis players will return to competition next week at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, where they will seek to defend the title won last year. In the debut they will face the British Daniel Evans and Jamie Murray.
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