Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah failed to win in their quarter-final match this Friday, April 22 at the Conde de Godó bATP 500 Tournament in Barcelona 2022.
It should be remembered that a year ago the Colombians won the title of this trophy, also known commercially as the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, as well as in the 2019 edition of it.
However, this Friday the Colombian couple could not beat the German duo formed by Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies. The Europeans were notably superior in two sets [6-4] and [7-5] and stopped the illusion of advancing to a new international semifinal for Cabal and Farah.
The Colombians came after winning in two sets in the first round against Jamie Murray and Daniel Evans and, as expected, the match against the Germans was quite tense and even from the start.
Cabal and Farah seemed to have a better chance of winning with their punches and volleys close to the net, reaching five chances to fail, but they didn't take advantage of any despite the fact that even the wind was in their favor on track 2 of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona:
Krawietz and Mies began to gain confidence with the passage of the match and won one of the only two options to fail they had, a fact that allowed them to win the first set with a tight 6-4.
Despite the efforts of the Colombians to try to take advantage from the start, Krawietz and Mies became superior from the start with several encompassed and unexpected shots for the coffee growers.
Unfortunately, the efforts were not enough for the Colombians (twelfth in the ATP international ranking) to defend the Catalan doubles tennis title.
Both competitors traveled to Spain with the intention of defending the title and accumulating victories ahead of the 2022 edition of the Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the year after the Australian Open, but this year's participants in competition were one step above their level.
So far this year, the pair of the Colsanitas team have only been able to qualify for one final and it was last Sunday, April 17 at the ATP in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where they fell 2-1 in instances of super tie-break against American Rajeev Ram and Englishman Joe Salisbury.
In any case, that was the qualifying table in Barcelona, where Krawietz and Mies will face Mexican Santiago González and Argentinian Andrés Molteni in the semifinals, a couple that Cabal and Farah had eliminated in the round of the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, a few days ago:
It was not a great start to the season for Robert and Juan Sebastián, who were eliminated from the Miami Masters 1000 in the first round; the same luck they suffered in the ATP 1000 in Indian Wells; and later at the ATP 500 in Acapulco where they did not pass the second round on February 24.
The ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, the Davis Cup, the Australian Open and the ATP 250 in Sydney were also tests that both tennis players could not overcome so far this year.
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