Cabal/Farah Play Waiting Game At Nitto ATP Finals

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah completed Group Max Mirnyi play with a 1-2 round-robin record at the Nitto ATP Finals, recording their 50th match win of 2019 on Friday afternoon.

The top-seeded Colombians saved one set point in the first set tie-break of a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory over third-seeded Germans Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in 81 minutes.

Cabal and Farah, who were presented the 2019 year-end No. 1 doubles trophy at The O2 in London on Thursday, will finish group play in second place if seventh-seeded Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut beat sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in two sets during the evening session.

Cabal and Farah have captured five tour-level titles this year, including at Wimbledon (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin) and the US Open (d. Granollers/Zeballos), and have a 50-18 match record on the season.

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Big-serving gave the Germans their first set point at 6/5 in the tie-break, but 27-year-old Krawietz was unable to return Cabal’s serve. One set point came and went for the Colombians at 7/6, but a fine low return from Cabal, then a poach volley winner gave the top seeds the 52-minute opener.

Pumped up, the Colombians went on to break Krawietz’s serve in the first game of the second set – courtesy of a Farah backhand return, then a Cabal volley winner. They took a 5-2 lead by breaking Mies’ serve to 15.

Krawietz and Mies end their 2019 season, as winners of the New York Open (d. S. Gonzalez/Qureshi) and their first Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros (d. Chardy/Martin), with a 29-20 match record.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2Xi1oRP