Robert Farah (tennis)
Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud is a
Canadian-born Colombian professional tennis player. Currently, he is ranked No. 1 in the world in men's doubles. Farah has a long-standing doubles partnership with countryman Juan Sebastián Cabal, with whom he has won 15 ATP titles, including the 2019 Wimbledon title, 2019 US Open title and two Italian Open titles. He currently resides in Bogota, Colombia.
Family
Maksoud is the son of a family of Lebanese descent. His mother is a teacher at the French Liceo Paul Valery de Cali. His father is a tennis player. In 2006, he became a professional tennis player.College Tennis
Farah played college tennis at the University of Southern California from 2006 to 2010. He finished his senior season as the number one ranked player in singles, while additionally ranked second in doubles. He won the 2008 NCAA Men's Doubles National Championship, partnering Kaes Van't Hof. He occasionally played doubles with future ATP pro Steve Johnson.ATP Tour
Farah's consistent doubles partnership with fellow countryman Juan Sebastián Cabal began at Wimbledon 2011, when they defeated the pair consisting of Pakistani Aisam Qureshi and Indian Rohan Bopanna, in a tight three set match that went to 21–19 in the final set, before losing in second round against American Michael Russell and Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets.In the 2013 Australian Open, Farah and Cabal made their first appearance in the quarterfinals.
In 2016, Farah reached his first grand slam final, in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon partnering Anna-Lena Grönefeld. They lost in straight sets to Henri Kontinen of Finland and Heather Watson of the UK.
In 2017, Farah and Cabal reached their first men's doubles grand slam semifinal at the French Open. In the same tournament he reached the final of the mixed doubles partnering Gronefeld where they lost to Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski in 3 sets.
In July 2018, Farah was given a suspended three month suspension and fined £3,800 for promoting a gambling website on his twitter. Farah would only serve the suspension if there were further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.
Exactly a year after his suspension, Farah and countryman Cabal won their first ever grand slam men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 2019, defeating Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Édouard Roger-Vasselin in a thrilling 5 set match that required 4 tie-break sets; this victory means that Farah and Cabal both will ascend to world No. 1 in the week following the conclusion of the Championships.
In October 2019, Farah was tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone. He was provisionally suspended from official tournaments from 14 January 2020 and did not compete at the 2020 Australian Open. Farah argued that he had ingested Boldenone from contaminated Colombian meat and the ITF chose not to ban him, holding that he "bears no fault or negligence for the violation".
Major finals
Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)
ATP career finals
Doubles: 34 (16 titles, 19 runner-ups)
Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
Loss | 0–1 | 2012 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad – Doubles| | Swiss Open, Switzerland | 250 Series | Clay | Santiago Giraldo | Marcel Granollers Marc López | 4–6, 6–7 |
Loss | 0–2 | 2013 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur – Doubles| | Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France | 250 Series | Clay | Johan Brunström Raven Klaasen | 3–6, 2–6 | |
Loss | 0–3 | 2014 Brisbane International – Men's Doubles| | Brisbane International, Australia | 250 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Mariusz Fyrstenberg Daniel Nestor | 7–6, 4–6, |
Loss | 0–4 | 2014 Royal Guard Open – Doubles| | Chile Open, Chile | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Oliver Marach Florin Mergea | 3–6, 4–6 |
Win | 1–4 | 2014 Rio Open – Men's Doubles| | Rio Open, Brazil | 500 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | David Marrero Marcelo Melo | 6–4, 6–2 |
Loss | 1–5 | 2014 Brasil Open – Doubles| | Brasil Open, Brazil | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Guillermo García-López Philipp Oswald | 7–5, 4–6, |
Loss | 1–6 | 2014 Sony Open Tennis – Men's Doubles| | Miami Open, United States | Masters 1000 | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Bob Bryan Mike Bryan | 6–7, 4–6 |
Win | 2–6 | 2014 Winston-Salem Open – Doubles| | Winston-Salem Open, United States | 250 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jamie Murray John Peers | 6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 3–6 | 2015 Brasil Open – Doubles| | Brasil Open, Brazil | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Paolo Lorenzi Diego Schwartzman | 6–4, 6–2 |
Win | 4–6 | 2015 Geneva Open – Doubles| | Geneva Open, Switaerland | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Raven Klaasen Lu Yen-hsun | 7–5, 4–6, |
Loss | 4–7 | 2015 Swedish Open – Men's Doubles| | Swedish Open, Sweden | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jérémy Chardy Łukasz Kubot | 7–6, 3–6, |
Loss | 4–8 | 2015 German Open – Doubles| | German Open, Germany | 500 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jamie Murray John Peers | 6–2, 3–6, |
Loss | 4–9 | 2015 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Doubles| | Japan Open, Japan | 500 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Raven Klaasen Marcelo Melo | 6–7, 6–3, |
Win | 5–9 | 2016 Argentina Open – Doubles| | Argentina Open, Argentina | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Íñigo Cervantes Paolo Lorenzi | 6–3, 6–0 |
Win | 6–9 | 2016 Rio Open – Men's Doubles| | Rio Open, Brazil | 500 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Pablo Carreño Busta David Marrero | 7–6, 6–1 |
Loss | 6–10 | 2016 BMW Open – Doubles| | Bavarian International, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Henri Kontinen John Peers | 3–6, 6–3, |
Win | 7–10 | 2016 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur – Doubles| | Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Mate Pavić Michael Venus | 4–6, 6–4, |
Win | 8–10 | 2016 Kremlin Cup – Men's Doubles| | Kremlin Cup, Russia | 250 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer | 7–5, 4–6, |
Win | 9–10 | 2017 Argentina Open – Doubles| | Argentina Open, Argentina | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Santiago González David Marrero | 6–1, 6–4 |
Loss | 9–11 | 2017 Rio Open – Doubles| | Rio Open, Brazil | 500 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Pablo Carreño Busta Pablo Cuevas | 4–6, 7–5, |
Loss | 9–12 | 2017 Gazprom Hungarian Open – Doubles| | Hungarian Open, Hungary | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Brian Baker Nikola Mektić | 6–7, 4–6 |
Win | 10–12 | 2017 BMW Open – Doubles| | Bavarian International, Germany | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jérémy Chardy Fabrice Martin | 6–3, 6–3 |
Loss | 10–13 | 2017 Geneva Open – Doubles| | Geneva Open, Switaerland | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jean-Julien Rojer Horia Tecău | 6–2, 6–7, |
Loss | 10–14 | 2018 Australian Open – Men's Doubles| | Australian Open, Australia | Grand Slam | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Oliver Marach Mate Pavić | 4–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 10–15 | 2018 Argentina Open – Doubles| | Argentina Open, Argentina | 250 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Andrés Molteni Horacio Zeballos | 3–6, 7–5, |
Win | 11–15 | 2018 Italian Open – Men's Doubles| | Italian Open, Italy | Masters 1000 | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Pablo Carreño Busta João Sousa | 3–6, 6–4, |
Loss | 11–16 | 2018 Western & Southern Open – Men's Doubles| | Cincinnati Masters, United States | Masters 1000 | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jamie Murray Bruno Soares | 6–4, 3–6, |
Loss | 11–17 | 2019 Sydney International – Men's Doubles| | Sydney International, Australia | 250 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jamie Murray Bruno Soares | 4–6, 3–6 |
Win | 12–17 | 2019 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles| | Barcelona Open, Spain | 500 Series | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Jamie Murray Bruno Soares | 6–4, 7–6 |
Win | 13–17 | 2019 Italian Open – Men's Doubles| | Italian Open, Italy | Masters 1000 | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Raven Klaasen Michael Venus | 6–1, 6–3 |
Win | 14–17 | 2019 Eastbourne International – Men's Doubles| | Eastbourne International, United Kingdom | 250 Series | Grass | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Maximo González Horacio Zeballos | 3–6, 7–6, |
Win | 15–17 | 2019 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Doubles| | Wimbledon Championships, United Kingdom | Grand Slam | Grass | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Nicolas Mahut | 6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 |
Loss | 15–18 | 2019 Western & Southern Open – Men's Doubles| | Cincinnati Masters, United States | Masters 1000 | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Ivan Dodig Filip Polášek | 6–4, 4–6, |
Win | 16–18 | 2019 US Open – Men's Doubles| | US Open, United States | Grand Slam | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Marcel Granollers Horacio Zeballos | 6–4, 7–5 |
Loss | 16–19 | 2020 Abierto Mexicano Telcel – Men's Doubles| | Mexican Open, Mexico | 500 Series | Hard | Juan Sebastián Cabal | Łukasz Kubot Marcelo Melo | 6–7, 7–6, |
ATP Challenger & ITF Futures
Singles: 5 (3–2)
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
Winner | 1. | 7 June 2010 | Maracaibo, Venezuela | Hard | Iván Miranda | 6–3, 7–6 |
Winner | 2. | 21 June 2010 | Barquisimeto, Venezuela | Hard | Iván Endara | 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 3. | 12 July 2010 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | Carlos Salamanca | 6–3, 2–6, 7–6 |
Runner–up | 4. | 16 September 2011 | Aguascalientes, Mexico | Clay | Juan Sebastián Cabal | 6–4, 7–6 |
Runner–up | 5. | 6 August 2012 | Aptos, USA | Hard | Steve Johnson | 6–3, 6–3 |