Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah have made history at Wimbledon as the first Colombians to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam following an epic near-five-hour triumph over Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Saturday night.
The No.2 seeds prevailed 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-3 with the victory also clinching the world No.1 doubles ranking.
It was their second Grand Slam doubles final together having finished runners-up at last year’s Australian Open, while Cabal had also fallen in the 2011 French Open decider alongside Eduardo Schwank.
In a final filled with an early injury drama, a dearth in service breaks and a slew of momentum shifts, it was Cabal and Farah who collapsed to the grass, their bodies shaking with tears of joy after four hours and 56 minutes. It was the longest match of this year’s Championships so far.
“I mean, I'm speechless,” Farah said. “Really, I kept watching the watch through the first and second set. I'm like, we finished the second set and it's been two hours and 15 minutes play. This is ridiculous. How long is this? From there on, we just kept battling, kept battling, just focus on the game.
“To do this for Colombia … it's just crazy. I mean, to be part of it is just amazing."
With neither team able to be separated at 5-all in the opening set, Mahut suffered a freak injury attempting to fend an overhead smash from Farah, only for the ball to hit him in the eye.
The other three players on court were quick to rush to the 37-year-old’s side as he grimaced with the left eye beginning to swell. After a medical timeout and a quick assessment from the doctor play resumed.
And there were no lingering effects as the Frenchmen took control in a first set tie-break. Two exceptional reflex volleys from Roger-Vasselin kept the point alive as Farah smashed wide to bring up four set points. Three went begging before Roger-Vasselin rifled a low backhand return to take it.
Again a tie-break would be required to split the pairs in set No.2 and again it was the Frenchmen who raced to the early lead, 5-3.
But the Colombians, who won on grass at Eastbourne leading into the Championships, surged back to reel off five straight points. Farah ripped a searing backhand crosscourt to set up the putaway at net for Cabal and the match was locked up at a set apiece.
Still no breaks of serve ensued as Roger-Vasselin saved a set point on serve to force a third straight tie-break. The Frenchman brought up their first set point of the tie-break on a crisp backhand volley from Roger-Vasselin but again the Colombians hung tight.
A correct overrule on Farah’s first serve handed them a second set point and Farah secured it on a net cord backhand winner, 8-6, prompting a furious outburst from Mahut.
After 39 successive service holds to 2-1 in the fourth set and following nine previous missed chances, the Frenchmen finally secured the first break of the match at the three-hour, 34-minute mark. But with Mahut unable to consolidate, the pairs headed for a fourth straight tie-break.
Four tie-breaks and four times the Frenchmen romped to the early lead. A 4-1 lead became 5-3 before Mahut brought up three set points with an ace and on set point No.3 they converted.
A 10-minute delay ensued as the roof was closed for the final set. And when Roger-Vasselin was broken for 5-3, history was on the line as Cabal stepped up to serve for the title. Finally, as the clock struck 9pm, two match points arose, and Farah delivered.
Back-to-back volley winners sealed the result as both men collapsed to the grass in jubilation.
The Frenchmen – back in tandem, having first teamed up 12 years ago – were inconsolable.
Six times before they had claimed doubles titles and had faced each other in the 2016 Wimbledon doubles final when Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert beat Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau.
This, though, was the Colombians' day.
“The moment we're living right now is just crazy,” Cabal said. “We never actually won three matches here in a row. No two matches in a regular tournament ATP on grass [before winning Eastbourne]. Now we won two tournaments in a row and we're No.1 in the world. What I can say?
“For Colombia, it's huge. Like Rob just said, we mainly have this story 10 years ago with Fabiola [Zuluaga], many years ago, in the WTA. But in the ATP with [Alejandro] Falla, [Santiago] Giraldo, [Alejandro] Gonzalez, a long time ago. But now it's like really making the big tournaments, breaking news, finals ATP.
“We just won Wimbledon for Colombia … it's huge for our country. I hope everybody enjoys us.”
