Robert Farah

For the Australian rugby league footballer, see Robbie Farah.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Farah and the second or maternal family name is Maksoud.

Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈroβeɾt ˈfaɾa];^[2][3] born 20 January 1987)^[1] is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 163 in June 2011.

Robert Farah

Farah at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters
Country (sports)	Colombia
Residence	Pereira, Colombia
Born	(1987-01-20) 20 January 1987 (age 37) Montreal, Quebec, Canada[1]
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro	2010
Retired	2023
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
College	University of Southern California
Prize money	$4,924,608
Singles
Career record	4–9 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 163 (6 June 2011)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	Q2 (2011)
French Open	Q2 (2011, 2012)
Wimbledon	Q2 (2011, 2012)
US Open	1R (2011)
Doubles
Career record	354–223 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	19
Highest ranking	No. 1 (15 July 2019)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (2018)
French Open	SF (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon	W (2019)
US Open	W (2019)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2018, 2019)
Olympic Games	QF (2021)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2019)
French Open	F (2017)
Wimbledon	F (2016)
US Open	SF (2016)
Medal record Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011 Singles Guadalajara 2011 Doubles
Last updated on: 19 January 2024.

Farah is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, having won both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open in 2019 in men's doubles, alongside compatriot Juan Sebastián Cabal. The pair also finished runners-up at the 2018 Australian Open, and Farah reached the final in mixed doubles at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 French Open with Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

Farah won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including two at the Masters 1000 level, and became world No. 1 in doubles for the first time on 15 July 2019. He spent a total of 68 weeks at the top of the doubles rankings, and was year-end No. 1 in both 2019 and 2020. Farah represented Colombia in the Davis Cup from 2010 to his retirement, as well as at the 2016 and at the 2020 Olympic Games.

College career

Farah played college tennis at the University of Southern California from 2006 to 2010 where he won two NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships as a USC Trojan. He finished his Senior season (2010) as the No. 1 ranked NCAA D1 player in the US in singles, while additionally ranked 2nd in doubles. He won the 2008 NCAA Men's Doubles National Championship, partnering Kaes Van't Hof. He occasionally played doubles at USC with future ATP pro Steve Johnson.^[4]

Professional career

2011

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 (8 in doubles) and Indian Rohan Bopanna (9 in the world), 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.

2013

In the 2013 Australian Open, Farah and Cabal made their first appearance in the quarterfinals.

2016

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.

2017

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.

2019: Two Grand Slam and Second Masters titles, World No. 1

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 helped Farah and Cabal to both ascend to world No. 1 in the week following the conclusion of the Championships.^[5]

2022: Two Masters finals

2023: Retirement

Farah made his last ATP tour-level professional appearance at the 2023 US Open (tennis) with Cabal where they lost in the second round.^[6]

Personal life

Farah is the son of a family of Lebanese descent.^[7] His mother is a teacher at the French Liceo Paul Valery de Cali. His father is a retired tennis player (not recognized at professional level).^[7] His sister is a former professional tennis player Romy Farah. In 2010, Robert became a professional tennis player.

Controversies

In July 2018, Farah was given a suspended three months ban and fined £3,800 for promoting a gambling website on his Twitter account. Farah would only serve the suspension if there were further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.^[8]

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.^[9] 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".^[10]

Performance timelines

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Doubles

Current through the 2023 US Open.

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	SR	W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	2R	QF	1R	2R	3R	3R	F	1R	A	2R	2R	3R	0 / 11	18–11
French Open	A	A	3R	3R	1R	1R	1R	SF	QF	SF	SF	SF	1R	2R	0 / 12	24–12
Wimbledon	A	3R	1R	3R	A	2R	2R	2R	3R	W	NH	QF	SF	1R	1 / 11	22–10
US Open	A	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	1R	A	SF	W	2R	1R	SF	2R	1 / 12	19–11
Win–loss	0–0	3–2	3–4	7–4	1–3	3–4	3–4	7–3	14–4	16–2	5–2	8–4	9–4	4–4	2 / 46	83-44
Year-end championship
ATP Finals	did not qualify								SF	SF	DNQ	RR	DNQ		0 / 3	4–7
National representation
Summer Olympics	not held		A	not held			2R	not held				QF	not held		0 / 2	3–2
Davis Cup	PO	Z1	Z1	PO	PO	PO	Z1	PO	PO	RR	RR		PO	QR	0 / 2	16–8
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	A	1R	QF	NH	1R	2R	1R	0 / 7	4–7
Miami Open	A	A	A	A	F	2R	A	1R	QF	2R	NH	2R	1R	2R	0 / 8	9–8
Monte-Carlo Masters	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	SF	A	QF	2R	NH	SF	F	2R	0 / 8	14–8
Madrid Open	A	A	A	A	SF	A	1R	2R	SF	1R	NH	2R	F	1R	0 / 8	9–8
Italian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	1R	A	W	W	2R	1R	2R	1R	2 / 9	13–7
Canadian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	NH	QF	1R	A	0 / 4	1–4
Cincinnati Masters	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	F	F	1R	SF	1R	A	0 / 6	9–6
Shanghai Masters	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	2R	2R	SF	QF	not held			A	0 / 6	10–6
Paris Masters	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	QF	A	A	0 / 8	5–8
Win–loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	11–6	8–7	4–6	3–4	13–8	16–8	1–3	7–8	9–7	2–5	2 / 64	74–62
Career statistics
Titles	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	2	1	5	0	3	0	0	19
Finals	0	0	1	1	6	5	5	5	4	7	2	4	2	0	42
Overall win–loss	0–1	4–3	16–14	21–17	35–20	37–24	33–21	33–15	39–23	51–20	14–10	38–20	24–20	7–15	353-223
Year-end ranking	160	83	64	48	23	27	30	27	5	1	1	10	29		61%

Mixed doubles

Tournament	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	SR	W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	QF	A	2R	1R	A	0 / 7	4–6
French Open	A	A	A	2R	2R	1R	F	SF	2R	NH	QF	A	A	0 / 7	11–7
Wimbledon	A	1R	2R	1R	A	F	A	2R	A	NH	A	QF	A	0 / 6	7–6
US Open	A	A	A	2R	1R	SF	A	A	A	NH	A	A	A	0 / 3	4–3
Win–loss	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–3	1–3	8–4	4–2	3–3	3–2	0–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	0 / 23	26–22

Major finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2018	Australian Open	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Oliver Marach Mate Pavić	4–6, 4–6
Win	2019	Wimbledon	Grass	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Nicolas Mahut Édouard Roger-Vasselin	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Win	2019	US Open	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Marcel Granollers Horacio Zeballos	6–4, 7–5

Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2016	Wimbledon	Grass	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Heather Watson Henri Kontinen	6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss	2017	French Open	Clay	Anna-Lena Grönefeld	Gabriela Dabrowski Rohan Bopanna	6–2, 2–6, [10–12]

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2014	Miami Open	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(8–10), 4–6
Win	2018	Italian Open	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Pablo Carreño Busta João Sousa	3–6, 6–4, [10–4]
Loss	2018	Cincinnati Masters	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray Bruno Soares	6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Win	2019	Italian Open (2)	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Raven Klaasen Michael Venus	6–1, 6–3
Loss	2019	Cincinnati Masters	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Ivan Dodig Filip Polášek	6–4, 4–6, [6–10]
Loss	2022	Monte-Carlo Masters	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Rajeev Ram Joe Salisbury	4–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Loss	2022	Madrid Open	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Wesley Koolhof Neal Skupski	7–6(7–4), 4–6, [5–10]

ATP career finals

Doubles: 42 (19 titles, 23 runner-ups)

Legend Grand Slam tournaments (2–1) ATP World Tour Finals (0–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (2–5) ATP World Tour 500 Series (6–4) ATP World Tour 250 Series (9–13)

Finals by surface Hard (5–9) Clay (12–14) Grass (2–0)

Finals by setting Outdoor (16–22) Indoor (3–1)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 2012	Swiss Open, Switzerland	250 Series	Clay	Santiago Giraldo	Marcel Granollers Marc López	4–6, 6–7(9–11)
Loss	0–2	May 2013	Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Johan Brunström Raven Klaasen	3–6, 2–6
Loss	0–3	Jan 2014	Brisbane International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Daniel Nestor	7–6(7–4), 4–6, [7–10]
Loss	0–4	Feb 2014	Chile Open, Chile	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Oliver Marach Florin Mergea	3–6, 4–6
Win	1–4	Feb 2014	Rio Open, Brazil	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	David Marrero Marcelo Melo	6–4, 6–2
Loss	1–5	Mar 2014	Brasil Open, Brazil	250 Series	Clay (i)	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Guillermo García-López Philipp Oswald	7–5, 4–6, [13–15]
Loss	1–6	Mar 2014	Miami Open, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	6–7(8–10), 4–6
Win	2–6	Aug 2014	Winston-Salem Open, United States	250 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray John Peers	6–3, 6–4
Win	3–6	Feb 2015	Brasil Open, Brazil	250 Series	Clay (i)	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Paolo Lorenzi Diego Schwartzman	6–4, 6–2
Win	4–6	May 2015	Geneva Open, Switzerland	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Raven Klaasen Lu Yen-hsun	7–5, 4–6, [10–7]
Loss	4–7	Jul 2015	Swedish Open, Sweden	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jérémy Chardy Łukasz Kubot	7–6(8–6), 3–6, [8–10]
Loss	4–8	Aug 2015	German Open, Germany	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray John Peers	6–2, 3–6, [8–10]
Loss	4–9	Oct 2015	Japan Open, Japan	500 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Raven Klaasen Marcelo Melo	6–7(5–7), 6–3, [7–10]
Win	5–9	Feb 2016	Argentina Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Íñigo Cervantes Paolo Lorenzi	6–3, 6–0
Win	6–9	Feb 2016	Rio Open, Brazil (2)	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Pablo Carreño Busta David Marrero	7–6(7–5), 6–1
Loss	6–10	May 2016	Bavarian International, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Henri Kontinen John Peers	3–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Win	7–10	May 2016	Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, France	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Mate Pavić Michael Venus	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Win	8–10	Oct 2016	Kremlin Cup, Russia	250 Series	Hard (i)	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer	7–5, 4–6, [10–5]
Win	9–10	Feb 2017	Argentina Open, Argentina (2)	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Santiago González David Marrero	6–1, 6–4
Loss	9–11	Feb 2017	Rio Open, Brazil	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Pablo Carreño Busta Pablo Cuevas	4–6, 7–5, [8–10]
Loss	9–12	Apr 2017	Hungarian Open, Hungary	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Brian Baker Nikola Mektić	6–7(2–7), 4–6
Win	10–12	May 2017	Bavarian International, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jérémy Chardy Fabrice Martin	6–3, 6–3
Loss	10–13	May 2017	Geneva Open, Switzerland	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jean-Julien Rojer Horia Tecău	6–2, 6–7(9–11), [6–10]
Loss	10–14	Jan 2018	Australian Open, Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Oliver Marach Mate Pavić	4–6, 4–6
Loss	10–15	Feb 2018	Argentina Open, Argentina	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Andrés Molteni Horacio Zeballos	3–6, 7–5, [3–10]
Win	11–15	May 2018	Italian Open, Italy	Masters 1000	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Pablo Carreño Busta João Sousa	3–6, 6–4, [10–4]
Loss	11–16	Aug 2018	Cincinnati Masters, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray Bruno Soares	6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Loss	11–17	Jan 2019	Sydney International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray Bruno Soares	4–6, 3–6
Win	12–17	Apr 2019	Barcelona Open, Spain	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray Bruno Soares	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win	13–17	May 2019	Italian Open, Italy (2)	Masters 1000	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Raven Klaasen Michael Venus	6–1, 6–3
Win	14–17	Jun 2019	Eastbourne International, United Kingdom	250 Series	Grass	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Maximo González Horacio Zeballos	3–6, 7–6(7–4), [10–6]
Win	15–17	Jul 2019	Wimbledon Championships, United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Nicolas Mahut Édouard Roger-Vasselin	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Loss	15–18	Aug 2019	Cincinnati Masters, United States	Masters 1000	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Ivan Dodig Filip Polášek	6–4, 4–6, [6–10]
Win	16–18	Sep 2019	US Open, United States	Grand Slam	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Marcel Granollers Horacio Zeballos	6–4, 7–5
Loss	16–19	Feb 2020	Mexican Open, Mexico	500 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Łukasz Kubot Marcelo Melo	6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), [9–11]
Loss	16–20	Oct 2020	Forte Village Sardegna Open, Italy	250 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Marcus Daniell Philipp Oswald	3–6, 4–6
Loss	16–21	Feb 2021	Great Ocean Road Open, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Jamie Murray Bruno Soares	3–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win	17–21	Mar 2021	Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates	500 Series	Hard	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Nikola Mektić Mate Pavić	7–6(7–0), 7–6(7–4)
Win	18–21	Apr 2021	Barcelona Open, Spain	500 Series	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Kevin Krawietz Horia Tecău	6–4, 6–2
Win	19–21	Oct 2021	Vienna Open, Austria	500 Series	Hard (i)	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Rajeev Ram Joe Salisbury	6–4, 6–2
Loss	19–22	Apr 2022	Monte-Carlo Masters, Monaco	Masters 1000	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Rajeev Ram Joe Salisbury	4–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Loss	19–23	May 2022	Madrid Open, Spain	Masters 1000	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	Wesley Koolhof Neal Skupski	7–6(7–4), 4–6, [5–10]

ATP Challenger & ITF Futures

Singles: 5 (3–2)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
ITF Futures (2–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	7 June 2010	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Hard	Iván Miranda	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
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(7–3)
Runner–up	4.	16 September 2011	Aguascalientes, Mexico	Clay	Juan Sebastián Cabal	6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Runner–up	5.	6 August 2012	Aptos, USA	Hard	Steve Johnson	6–3, 6–3

References

1. ATPtennis.com – Players – Profiles – Profile
2. fedecoltenis (11 September 2014). "SALUDO ROBERT FARAH" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via YouTube.
3. Ministerio TIC Colombia (7 July 2017). "#BajemosElTono – Robert Farah, tenista profesional" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via YouTube.
4. "Robert Farah Player Profile". USC Athletics. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
5. "Colombian History: Cabal/Farah Triumph in Wimbledon Final Thriller". ATP Tour. 13 July 2019.
6. "Cabal/Farah Say Adios to the Big Stage". Association of Tennis Professionals. 3 September 2023. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
7. "Robert Farah, a Colombian-Lebanese with tennis in his genes". Lorientlejour.com (published 2019). 19 July 2019.
8. "Robert Farah suspended for three months for endorsing betting". BBC Sport. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
9. "The truth behind World No.1's mysterious Aussie Open exit". 7news.com.au. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
10. "Robert Farah: No ban for doubles champion despite positive test". BBC Sport. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

External links

• Robert Farah at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Robert Farah at the International Tennis Federation
• Robert Farah at the Davis Cup