Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah won their second ATP World Tour doubles title as a team this year, overcoming Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy/Fabrice Martin 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday at the BMW Open by FWU in Munich. Cabal/Farah were down 0-3 in the first set but won 12 of the final 15 games to win their first Munich crown. The third seeds saved three of four break points, including all three faced in the second set. “It's such a great feeling. We've been coming here for [five] years already. For me it's one of my favourite tournaments. To win it finally – we made the final last year – it's a great achievement, and we're very happy,” Farah said. The...
Lucas Pouille didn’t put a foot wrong on Sunday at the Gazprom Hungarian Open in Budapest, storming through the final with a 6-3, 6-1 win over qualifier Aljaz Bedene. The victory gives Pouille his second ATP World Tour title, with the Frenchman’s maiden trophy coming last year on home soil in Metz. Pouille improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Bedene to 2-0, including a victory this February in Marseille en route to the final (l. Tsonga). He has been in fine form on this clay this season and also reached the semi-finals last week at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. "I feel very happy with the way I started the clay season. To win here gives me a lot of confidence...
One week after securing a record 10th title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Rafael Nadal etched his name in the history books once again, lifting a 10th trophy at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Nadal's historic conclusion to the month of April extended to home soil, defeating Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1. "I'm very satisfied. It's been an emotional day for me. Playing in front of my crowd and my club and winning a 10th title here is something that's impossible to even dream of. It's very special and unique,” said Nadal. “I played my best match of the tournament this afternoon against probably the toughest opponent in the tournament, so I'm very happy." Nadal has relinquished just one set in...
Brian Baker celebrated his 32nd birthday in style, claiming the doubles title at the inaugural Gazprom Hungarian Open alongside Nikola Mektic. Baker and Mektic prevailed 7-6(2), 6-4 over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Budapest, needing one hour and 27 minutes to secure their second team title on the ATP World Tour. Also the champions at the Memphis Open in February, they improved to 2-0 in tour-level finals together. The fourth seeds were ruthless on serve, dropping just 17 of 65 points in the final encounter. They took the first set in a tie-break and broke immediately at love to open the second, before eventually emerging victorious on their second match point. "I couldn't have asked for a better...
Florin Mergea of Romania and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan won their first ATP World Tour doubles title as a team on Sunday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Mergea/Qureshi dismissed the German/Austrian pairing of Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-4, 6-3 in a battle between unseeded pairings at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899, the oldest Spanish tennis club. “I couldn't be more happy. I've been working really hard, and I know he's a really hard worker,” Qureshi said. “There's so much history in this club, and it's great to be a part of it, to win a title here. Hopefully we can come back and win another title in this beautiful city.” The Romanian/Pakistani combination continued to raise their...
