Unseeded Teams Face Off In Roland Garros Doubles Final
Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus moved into their first Grand Slam final on Friday at Roland Garros, continuing their inspired play with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 16th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
Awaiting them in the final are Santiago Gonzalez and Donald Young, who prevailed on Thursday over Fernando Verdasco and Nenad Zimonjic. There is guaranteed to be both an American and a first-time Grand Slam winner on Saturday.
Harrison had never reached a Grand Slam semi-final prior to this fortnight, while Venus had never reached the last eight at a major. The American-Kiwi pairing has already enjoyed success this year by taking the doubles title last month in Estoril. Harrison has won three ATP World Tour doubles titles and Venus has won six, but they’ve all been at the ATP World Tour 250 level.
Cabal was seeking his second Grand Slam men’s doubles final after reaching the championship match at Roland Garros in 2011 (w/Schwank). Farah was aiming for his first men’s doubles final at a Grand Slam. He endured his second disappointment in 24 hours after squandering two championship points with Anna-Lena Groenefeld in Thursday's mixed doubles final against Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski.
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In the Harrison/Venus semi-final, a single break of serve in each set was all that was required to force a decider on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Both teams held comfortably throughout the final set, but Harrison/Venus secured the crucial break at 4-4. The prospect of reaching their first Grand Slam final led to a nervy affair serving out the match, but they made good on their third match point to advance in one hour and 56 minutes.