Rohan Bopanna-Denis Shapovalov vs Juan-Sebastian Cabal-Robert Farah: Preview and Prediction
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah bounced back from a first-round Roland Garros exit to win a Match Tie-break Monday at the Cinch Championships. The fourth-seeded Colombians edged qualifiers Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan, 3-6, 6-3, 10-4, at The Queen’s Club in London to return to winning ways.
Each team broke serve once in the contest, with Cabal and Farah creating four break chances while facing just one break point against them.
The victory sets up a quarter-final showdown against Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov after the Indian-Canadian duo dismissed Diego Schwartzman and Pedro Martinez, 7-6, 6-4.
In their quarter-final meeting, Cabal and Farah will seek consecutive victories for the first time since their run to the Mutua Madrid Open final in early May. Bopanna and Shapovalov lost in the first round in Madrid but reached the semi-finals last week in Stuttgart in their first event as a pair since the ATP Masters 1000 in the Spanish capital.
What have they done so far?
The Colombian pair of Cabal and Farah hasn’t been in good form recently
The Colombian duo of Cabal and Farah have since the Madrid Open played in nine games winning six of them. They lost in the final of the Madrid Open 7-6, 4-6, 5-10 to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski and have since seen their performance decline.
They were ousted by John Isner and Diego Schwartzman in the second round of Rome Masters and then suffered a defeat in straight set in the first round of the French Open to Benoit Paire and Albert Ramos Vinolas. And then the fourth-seeded pair Colombians edged qualifiers Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan, 3-6, 6-3, 10-4, at The Queen’s Club in London to return to winning ways.
Meanwhile, the Indo-Canadian pair of Bopanna and Shapovalov has played five games since the Madrid Open, winning three. The duo suffered a loss in the first round of the Madrid Open going down to the Spanish pair of Pablo Carreno Busta and Pedro Martinez 7-6, 3-6, 1-10.
However, they were superb in the Stuttgart Open wherein they reached the semi-finals of the competition, eventually bowing out 6-7, 6-7 against the eventual champions Hubert Hurkacz and Mate Pavic. They continued their good performance in the first round of this tournament wherein they dismissed Diego Schwartzman and Pedro Martinez, 7-6, 6-4.
Head to Head Record
Bopanna/ Shapovalov lead the H2H tally against Cabal and Farah
So far, the two pairs have faced each other thrice in all competitions. The Indo-Canadian pair, however, leads the head-to-head tally between the two pairs having won two of the three games. The Colombian duo won the first encounter between the pairs at the Cincinnati Open in August 2019, defeating the Indian-Canadian pair 7-6, 6-7, 10-8.
However, since that game, Bopanna and Shapovalov have won each of their next two games against the Colombian pair. They first defeated Cabal and Farah 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 in Rome in September 2020 and followed that up by winning in the Madrid Open in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in May 2021.
When and Where to Watch?
The game that involves Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna along with his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov against the Colombian duo of Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah is set to be played on 16 June 2022 at 4:30 pm local time.
However, unfortunately, one cannot watch the game live on TV in India but can watch the game on OTT via Tennis TV. Viewers in other countries, however, can watch the game on the following channels –
Amazon Prime Video & BBC – The United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland.
beIN SPORTS – Australia, Middle East & Singapore.
Iqiyi – China.
Tennis Channel – USA.
TSN – Canada.
ESPN – Latin America.
All others can watch the game via Live Streaming on Tennis TV.
Prediction
The Colombian pair of Cabal and Farah has struggled a fair bit over the last few months, while the Indo-Canadian duo of Bopanna and Shapovalov have notched up a few good results from time to time. On current form, the pair of Bopanna and Shapovalov have a slight advantage heading into this contest.