Caroline Garcia Helps Lead France Into United Cup Semifinals

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia has single-(and double-)handedly helped lead France to the United Cup semifinals.

The 30-year-old half-Spanish French tennis player and compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Ulrikke Eikeri and Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to end a tie that stretched nearly 6½ hours.

With the deciding mixed doubles match victory, France defeated Norway to set up a United Cup semifinal against top-seeded Poland.

The first set was a tight affair until France broke serve to make it 6-5 before holding to win the opener and then made the only break in the second set for a 2-1 lead.

Ruud forced the quarterfinal to a decider by downing Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 6-4 after Garcia put France up 1-0 by edging Malene Helgo 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5).

Garcia, ranked 20th and the 2022 WTA Finals champion, had to work for more than 2½ hours against 544th-ranked Helgo.

“It was a crazy match, a crazy performance from Helgo,” Garcia said. “I didn’t know her very well, and she just played a crazy match, was hitting the ball so well.”

Ruud outclassed Mannarino in the men’s singles.

“I don’t think I faced a break point,” Ruud said. “So that’s great for my standards of serving … and putting Norway back on the board.”

The final on Sunday is at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos Advance to Title Match at ATP Finals

Posted on November 18, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are one win away from the title…

The 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player and his 38-year-old Argentine professional doubles partner have advanced to the championship match at the the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time together to keep their Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 hopes alive.

Granollers and Zeballos, the tournament’s fifth seeds, overcame Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday after one hour and 20 minutes in Turin.

Granollers and Zeballos are making their fourth appearance together at the year-end event, where they lost in the semifinals in 2020 and 2021.

They’ll look to go all the way on Sunday when they meet defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who defeated fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

“We are very happy,” Granollers said. “It is our third semi-final here at the Finals and we are happy to be in the final this time. We will try to enjoy the match and play our best tennis.”

Granollers and Zeballos are up to third in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings and will end the season in first place if they win the title in Turin. Already-eliminated Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek are currently first. Bopanna and Ebden are now out of the race.

“We tried to think that every match was a final because every match was against a great team,” Zeballos said on their run. “We tried to be positive and offensive and it is working so far so we will try the same tomorrow.”

Earlier this season, Granollers and Zeballos clinched the crown at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai. Granollers is chasing his second title at the year-end event having triumphed with Marc Lopez in 2012.

Competing inside the Pala Alpitour, Granollers and Zeballos were comfortable on serve and were clinical on return in crucial moments. They pounced on two inconsistent serving games from Ebden, one in each set, to earn victory.

Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos Advance to ATP Finals Doubles Semifinals

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos remain perfect…

The 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player and his 38-year-old Argentine professional doubles partner maintained their perfect start at the 2023 ATP Finals with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Thursday in Turin, Italy.

Granollers and Zeballos notched a break in each set to wrap an 84-minute win and ensure they will finish at the top of Red Group with a 3-0 record.

They will now prepare for their third ATP Finals semifinal as a team, having also reached that stage in 2020 (in London) and 2021 (in Turin).

The win also kept alive Granollers and Zeballos’ hopes of clinching the Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 honor for the first time.

The pair is currently fifth in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, but can jump to a first-place finish by lifting the ATP Finals trophy for the first time as a team.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and his doubles partner, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, advanced from Red Group in second position after they saved a match point before downing top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 6-4, 3-6, 15-13 earlier on Thursday.

Santiago Gonzalez & Partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin Claim Paris Masters Men’s Doubles Title

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Santiago Gonzalez is celebrating another title…

The 40-year-old Mexican professional player and his men’s doubles partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin have extended their late-season winning streak to eight to clinch the title at the Paris Masters.

The seventh-seeded duo defeated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 to lift the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital.

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin converted both break points they earned to claim the victory, holding firm after dropping their first set of the week in the championship match in Paris.

“The set we lost, it’s totally my fault. I did a pretty bad game in the second set, but Santi helped a lot at the changeover,” said home favorite Roger-Vasselin. “[He said] ‘It’s OK, we’re just going to fight every point and enjoy the crowd’. For me it’s super special to win here in Paris, so I’m really thankful to Santi. He played amazing all week, and I’m really happy to win this trophy here.”

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin, who also lifted the trophy in Basel a week ago, defeated the second, third and fourth-seeded pairs en route to their second Masters 1000 crown of the year.

The duo has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where the pair will enter the prestigious season finale on a high.

“The last two weeks were amazing, ending the year like this and now going to Turin with confidence,” said Gonzalez. “We are happy to win our second Masters title of this year, so we are very pleased about it and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin are now 51-21 in their first full season together on the ATP Tour.

They became champions in Marseille, Miami and Los Cabos prior to their Basel and Paris triumphs, and will enter Turin in fourth in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.

Santiago González Claims First-Ever Masters 1000 Doubles Title at Miami Open

Posted on April 1, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Santiago González is celebrating a special Sunshine State victory…

The 40-year-old Mexican professional tennis player and his doubles partner Édouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Nicolas Mahut and Austin Krajicek to win 7-6 (4), 7-5 to claim the Miami Open title.

With the win, Gonzalez claimed his first Masters 1000 title.

In addition, he has now reached a career high ATP Tour doubles ranking of No. 19 in the world.

“It was my dream, of course, to lift this type of title at 40 years of age, I’m happy, I’m happy to be here today, it’s my son’s birthday, so I’m going to remember this day for the rest of my life, so I’m happy”, said González.

The only time other time Gonzalez competed in a Masters 1000 final was in Indian Wells last year, also with Roger-Vasselin as a partner, losing to John Isner and Jack Sock.

Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah Become First Colombian Players to Win a Grand Slam Men’s Doubles Title at Wimbledon

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah are coming home as heroes…

In their 31st Grand Slam appearance as a team, the 33-year-old Colombian tennis player and his 32-year-old compatriot became the first Colombian players to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title on Saturday at Wimbledon.

Cabal and Farah,the second seeds at the All England Club, defeated Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-3 to lift their first major trophy after four hours and 57 minutes, extending their tour-level winning streak to 10 matches.

Before claiming their maiden grass-court tour-level title at the Nature Valley International last month, Cabal and Farah had never earned more than two straight tour-level match wins on the surface as a team.

“For Colombia, it’s huge… We just won Wimbledon for Colombia,” said Cabal. “It’s huge. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s huge for our country. I hope everybody enjoys us.”

The Colombian pairing, which improves to 34-10 this season, has now clinched four tour-level crowns this season following title runs in Barcelona, Romeand Eastbourne.

Cabal and Farah own 15 team trophies from 31 championship matches.

Cabal and Farah receive 2000 ATP DoublesRanking points and split £540,000 in prize money.

“To do this for Colombia… it’s just crazy. I mean, to be part of it is just amazing,” said Cabal.

Marc Lopez & Feliciano Lopez Win Their First-Ever Grand Slam Doubles Title at the French Open

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

The third time’s the charm for Marc López…

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis player and his compatriot Feliciano Lopez won the French Open on Saturday for their first Grand Slam doubles title, denying Bob and Mike Bryan a 17th major trophy.

It was Marc Lopez’s third Grand Slam final appearance, having finished runner-up at Roland Garros and at the US Open two years ago alongside Marcel Granollers. It was Feliciano Lopez’s first Grand Slam doubles final.

The duo became the first Spanish pair to win at Roland Garros in 26 years with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory over their American rivals.

The No. 15 seeds played together only once before at a major tournament and had to struggle to get to the final.

They saved six match points in their quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. They went to three sets before downing defending champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the semifinals.

The Bryans, the most successful pairing of all time, were seeking a third title on the red clay following victories in 2003 and 2013.

“The tough thing about us is that if we don’t leave with the big trophy it’s devastating,” Bob Bryan said. “We have high standards, and sometimes that makes it not fun, because we can’t get any kind of enjoyment out of a final or semi like maybe some other players.

“You know, that’s the burden that we carry. We’re feeling that pain right now. We don’t take any solace out of leaving with the square plate.”

Feliciano Lopez sealed the Spaniards’ win with an ace, and both partners fell on their backs in jubilation.

“You can’t imagine what it means to win a Grand Slam for the first time, against the best players in the sport,” Feliciano Lopez said.

The fifth-seeded Bryans saved a match point in the tiebreaker before evening it 1-1 in sets, but their rivals returned better in the decider and converted two of three break points.

“Winning a Grand Slam is something amazing, and I didn’t have a Grand Slam victory on my résumé,” Marc Lopez said. “Roland Garros is my favorite tournament. It has been the case for quite a long time. When I was a kid, I was watching the matches of great champions, the Spanish champions.”

The previous Spanish doubles team to win the French Open was Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez in 1990.

López Reaches First Grand Slam Final Ever in French Open Men’s Doubles

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano López has reached his first Grand Slam final…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis player and his compatriot Marc López defeated defending champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 on Friday to reach their first French Open final as a team.

Dodig and Melo saved two match points serving at 4-5 in the deciding set, but succumbed two games later.

It will be Marc Lopez’s third Grand Slam final appearance, having finished runner-up at Roland Garros and at the US Open two years ago alongside Marcel Granollers.

Feliciano Lopez is into his first Grand Slam final since finishing runner-up at the 1998 Roland Garros junior doubles tournament.

Lopez/Lopez are aiming to become the first all-Spanish team to win the Roland Garros doubles title since Sergio Casal/Emilio Sanchez in 1990.

They saved six match points in their quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The Spaniards will face Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who raced to the finish in a 7-5, 6-1 semifinal win against Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.

del Potro Reaches Swiss Indoors Final

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Juan Martín del Potro is back in familiar territory…

The 25-year-old Argentine tennis star outlasted Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday to reach his second straight final at the Swiss Indoors.

The top-seeded del Potro, currently ranked No. 5 in the world, came back strong after a dip in play in the second set, and brushed aside the 65th-ranked Frenchman in the deciding set.

“I made a lot of mistakes in the end of the second set,” said del Potro. “He was there taking chances. He has nothing to lose in this match.”

del Potro is gunning for his fourth title of the year, after winning titles in Tokyo, Washington, DC and Rotterdam.

He’ll play Roger Federer in the finals, a rematch of last year’s championship. del Potro won that match 6–4, 6–7, 7–6 to unseat the two-time defending champion.

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