Cabal and Farah started defending the title at the ATP 500 in Barcelona with a victory

Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah started defending the title on the right foot at the ATP 500 in Barcelona (Spain). The Colombian tennis players took the first round match forward this Wednesday against the English Jamie Murray and Daniel Evans with 6-3 and 6-2 partials in one hour and three minutes.

The national duo, which had just fallen in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 against the American Rajeev Raam and the British Joe Salisbury, reaffirmed the good moment they are going through during the brick dust season.

In the first set the Colombians started putting pressure on their rivals, who suffered a break in the first service game. With the lead on the scoreboard, Cabal and Farah enhanced the serve and, especially, the shots from the back of the court. Although the younger brother of Andy Murray and Evans tried to climb the mesh to counter the shots, they were usually outdone.

Both Juan Sebastian and Robert, the fourth pre-qualified couple of the tournament, looked very solid in service, in terms of power and location. The Colombians added their second break and went 4-0 up. In the final stage, Murray and Evans tried to react, managing to recover one of the breaks; however, at the time of taking out for the set, the 'coffee' tennis players were convincing.

In the second round, the trend did not change much. The effectiveness from the service and well-executed volleys made it difficult for Europeans, who could barely make a break in the four opportunities they had. Meanwhile, Cabal and Farah were able to accumulate another two breaks in the partial, one in the third game and one in the fourth, to win the contest.

Colombia's doublers closed with 73% of first services completed, of which 79% earned. A different scenario was for Murray and Evans, who had 53% kick-off. The work at the reception also made a difference: while the 'coffee growers' scored a total of 24 points, the Europeans barely reached 10.

Cabal and Farah's streak extended to nine straight wins at the ATP 500 in Barcelona. The coffee growers, remember, defeated Romanian Horia Tecau and German Kevin Krawietz in the final last year by score 6-4 and 6-2. In 2019, the same dose was also applied to Jamie Murray to Brazilian Bruno Soares (7-6 and 6-4).

It should be remembered that the 2020 edition could not be disputed because of the covid-19 pandemic.

In the next round (quarterfinals) the 'colombian power', as the duo is popularly known, will be facing Germans Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, who defeated France's Nicolas Mahut and Roger-Vasselin. The commitment is agreed for this Thursday (time to be confirmed).

Both couples already had the opportunity to meet in the ATP finals in 2019. At that time the Colombians won with partials 7-6 and 6-2.

Before facing the season on clay, Juan Sebastián and Robert talked with Infobae Colombia about the performance evidenced in the first quarter of the year, and assured that, sooner or later, the triumphs would be achieved: “What we demand most of ourselves is to give 100% of us, it was a start to the year where the results were not has given us, but we have not left that philosophy aside and we know that the results will come”.

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