NEW YORK (Reuters) – Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah became the first Colombians to win the U.S. Open men’s doubles title on Friday, easing past Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 7-5 to underscore their status as tennis’s dominant partnership.
Just weeks after becoming the first Colombians to win a Grand Slam doubles title with an epic five-set victory at Wimbledon, Cabal and Farah were celebrating again after handing the Spanish/Argentine duo their first ever defeat.
Cabal and Farah needed nearly five hours to see off France’s Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the Wimbledon final but made quick work of Granollers and Zeballos, taking just 91 minutes under the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium to get their hands on the trophy.
Playing in their 400th match together, the top-ranked Colombians had a huge edge in experience over Granollers and Zeballos, who were teaming up for just their second event.
Down 5-3 in the second set with Granollers and Zeballos serving to level the match the Colombians broke back, sweeping four straight games to clinch the title and become just the sixth team to complete the Wimbledon/U.S. Open double.