Tag Archives: Abigail Spears

Cabal Claims First Grand Slam Title for Colombia in More Than 40 Years

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Life’s a grand slam for Juan Sebastian Cabal…

The 30-year-old Colombian tennis player and his partner Abigail Spears defeated second-seeded Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 6-2, 6-4, in the final on Sunday to take home the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open.

Juan Sebastian Cabal & Abigail Spears

This was only the second Grand Slam event as a team for Spears and Cabal, who lost in the first-round at the French Open last year.

With the victory, Cabal is celebrating his Grand Slam breakthrough, having been runner-up with Argentine Eduardo Schwank in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles. He had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in previous mixed doubles at Melbourne Park.

Spears and Cabal built on a brilliant 4-0 start to grab the opening set and continued to apply pressure with their consistency through the second. At 4-4, Dodig double-faulted to lose his serve and Cabal stepped up to close out the victory.

Cabal is the first Colombian in more than 40 years to win a Grand Slam.

Previously, Ivan Molina and Martina Navratilova teamed up to win the 1974 French Open mixed doubles title, beating Rosie Reyes Darmon and Marcello Lara 6–3, 6–3 in the final.

Cabal & Abigail Spears Reach Mixed Doubles Final at Australian Open

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Juan Sebastian Cabal is getting a second chance to become a Grand Slam champion…

The 30-year-old Colombian tennis player and his partner Abigail Spears defeated Elina Svitolina and Chris Guccione, 7-6, 6-2, in the semifinals to reach the Mixed Doubles championship round at this year’s Australian Open.

Juan Sebastian Cabal & Abigail Spears

It’s Cabal’s second appearance in a Grand Slam final, his first in mixed doubles. He previously played in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles final with Eduardo Schwank, losing a close match to Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi in three sets.

Cabal and Spears will play Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles final on Margaret Court Arena.

It’s only the third time a Colombian player has reached a Grand Slam final. Following Cabal’s appearance in the 2011 French Open men’s doubles final, Robert Farah appeared in the mixed doubles final at last year’s Wimbledon. He and partner Anna-Lena Grönefeld lost to Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen in straight sets.

Soares & Partner Sania Mirza Claim Mixed Doubles Crown at the U.S. Open

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Bruno Soares has returned to the winner’s circle at the U.S. Open…

The 32-year-old Brazilian tennis player clinched his second mixed doubles title at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. 

Bruno Soares & Sania Mirza

Soares and his partner Sania Mirza overcame a few anxious moments in the match tie break to win the title.

The top seeded pair squandered five straight championship points before scoring a 6-1 2-6 11-9 win over Abigail Spears of the USA and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico in exactly 60 minutes.

Spears sent a backhand volley long after making it 9-9 from 4-9, as Soares and Mirza heaved a big sigh of relief.

It was first time that the two were playing together as a pair.

“Playing with him is a lot of fun. He did not play with me all these years not sure why?” gushed Mirza after the win and confirmed that the pairing will continue for the Australian Open.

Soares had previously won the Mixed Doubles title at the U.S. Open in 2012 with Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.

Soares and Makarova won the title after defeating fourth-seeded Květa Peschke and Marcin Matkowski in the final 6–7(8–10), 6–1, [12–10].