Cabal/Farah Capture Vienna Crown
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah produced a dominant performance on Sunday, overcoming Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-2 in the Erste Bank Open final to capture their third tour-level title of the season.
The Colombians fell to Ram and Salisbury in Eastbourne and Wimbledon this year, but gained revenge in Vienna, saving all seven break points they faced to secure their victory after 78 minutes and reduce their ATP Head2Head series deficit against the second seeds to 1-3.
“Thank you all of you for being here,” Farah said in the trophy ceremony. “For us it is amazing to play in this atmosphere in a full stadium and to have the crowd back and feel these amazing vibes.”[FOLLOW ACTION]
This week, Cabal and Farah won three consecutive Match Tie-breaks 10-8 as they battled through the field to reach the championship match. The third seeds have earned 19 tour-level titles as a team, also triumphing in Dubai and Barcelona this season.
“The crowd has been amazing, thank you for coming,” Cabal added. “It was our time. It has been a pleasure being here.”
Ram and Salisbury were aiming to clinch their third tour-level title of the season. The American-British tandem captured their maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Toronto, before lifting the US Open trophy. They have fond memories in Vienna, have won the title in 2019.
Both teams have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held this year at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November, with Cabal and Farah securing their place following their first-round victory in Vienna.