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Colombia's Juan Sebastian Cabal insisted he and partner Robert Farah didn't have an easy job against Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas as both are "great tennis players." Cabal and Farah, seeded at No. 1, overcame a tricky Cincinnati Masters opener as they handed a straight-set defeat to Kyrgios and Tsitsipas 6-1 7-6 (8).
"The atmosphere in the crowd was amazing today,” Cabal said after the match, as revealed on the ATP website. “They’re both great tennis players, so it was a tough match, but we’re happy to win and we’ll see how the draw evolves." Cabal and Farah missed out on a chance to bagel Kyrgios and Tsitsipas in the first set as they blow three consecutive set points in the sixth game but still claimed the opener after claiming their fourth set point in the following game.
Kyrgios and Tsitsipas were threatening to send the match into a decider and potentially shock the top seeds but Cabal and Farah saved two set points in the second set tie-break before converting their second match point to seal a straight-set win.
Cabal and Farah will fight against either Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov or Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury for a place in the quarterfinal.