Juan Sebastián Cabal Valdés (Spanish pronunciation:[xwanseβasˈtjaŋkaˈβal];[a] born 25 April 1986)[1] is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 184 in February 2011.
Cabal won 20 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including two at Masters 1000 level, and became world No. 1 in doubles for the first time on 15 July 2019. He spent a total of 29 weeks at the top of the doubles rankings, and he and Farah were the 2019 ATP Doubles Team of the year. Cabal represented Colombia in the Davis Cup from 2008 to his retirement, as well as at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
Professional
2011: ATP, Grand Slam debut & final, partnership with Farah, top 25
2011 is considered as Cabal ATP and Grand Slam debut, and also considered the best year for his doubles performance at the 2011 French Open with Argentine Eduardo Schwank making history for Colombian tennis, as they defeated the top ranked pair in the semifinals, brothers Mike and Bob Bryan, and then lost the final to Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi.
In his second Gram Slam tournament, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, he debuted in the first round with countryman Robert Farah. They defeated the fourth-seeded pair at the tournament, consisting of Pakistani Aisam Qureshi (world No. 8) and India's Rohan Bopanna (world No. 9), 2–6, 6–2 and 21–19. In the second round, they lost in three sets to the couple formed by American Michael Russell and Mikhail Kukushkin Kazakhstan.
He finished the year ranked No. 25 in the world, largely thanks to his French Open run.
2013: First ATP final with Farah
In the 2013 Australian Open, he partnered again with Farah and reached the quarterfinals. In 2013, they also reached the final at the ATP 250 2013 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur. He finished the year ranked No. 43 in the world.
2014: First two ATP titles, seventh final
In 2014, Cabal and Farah reached six ATP finals, winning titles at the ATP 500 2014 Rio Open and the ATP 250 2014 Winston-Salem Open. They also reached the final of the ATP 1000 event in Miami where they lost to Bob and Mike Bryan. He also reached a seventh final in his home country's ATP 250 event, the 2014 Claro Open Colombia in Bogotá with compatriot Nicolás Barrientos. He finished the year ranked No. 22 in the world.
2015: Two more ATP 250 titles, top 20 debut
In 2015, Cabal and Farah added a further two titles winning the 2015 Brasil Open and the 2015 Geneva Open and reaching another three finals. In February, he reached a career-high ranking of No. 18 in the world. In major events, the pair struggled reaching the second round in Australia, Wimbledon and the US, and losing in the first round at the French Open. He finished the year ranked No. 25 in the world.
2016: Four ATP titles
2016 was the pair's most successful year in terms of the number of titles, winning four. At the 2016 Australian Open, they had their best Grand Slam result of the year, reaching the third round. In February they won two events in South America, the 2016 Argentina Open in Buenos Aires and the 2016 Rio Open. In May they reached the final in 2016 BMW Open in Munich, and then won the ATP250 event in Nice for a second time in their career. They finished the season by winning the 2016 Kremlin Cup in Moscow. Cabal finished the season as the world No. 30.
2017: Two more ATP 250 titles
In 2017, Cabal and Farah started the year by once again reaching the third round at the 2017 Australian Open. They returned to South America, defending their title at the 2017 Argentina Open and reaching the final again in Rio. They then won the ATP250 event in Munich. He then reached his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2011 at the 2017 French Open with Farah, where they lost to Michael Venus and Ryan Harrison.
2018: Australian Open final, first Masters 1000 title, top 10 debut
In May 2018, at the 2018 Italian Open, Cabal and Farah won their first Masters 1000 title against Pablo Carreño Busta and João Sousa. With the win, Cabal reached the top 10 for the first time in his career.
2019: Two Grand Slam and second Masters titles, world No. 1
In 2019, the most successful year for Cabal and Farah, they 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 five-set match that required four 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.[3]
2020: French Open semifinal, year-end world No. 2
Before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of the season, Cabal competed with Jaume Munar in the Australian Open, where they lost in the second round.
Playing with Farah once more, the pair reached the second round of the US Open. Then, they reached the semifinal of the delayed French Open, losing to Mate Pavić and Bruno Soares. Cabal ended the year as the world No. 2.[4]
2021: Three titles, French Open semifinal, Olympics quarterfinals, Finals qualification
They won their first title of the year in Dubai, defeating Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić in the final.[6] After losing in Miami and Monte Carlo, they claimed their second title of the year in Barcelona. This was followed by successive first round exits in two Masters 1000 events, Madrid and Rome.
Cabal and Farah represented Colombia at the Tokyo Olympics where they reached the quarterfinals, before losing to the New Zealand pairing of Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus.
They suffered a disappointing American hardcourt season, losing in the first round of the US Open and Indian Wells.[9] However, they captured their third title of the year in Vienna, avenging their earlier defeats to Salisbury and Ram by beating them in the final in straight sets.[10] During their run, they qualified for the 2021 ATP Finals.[11]
2022-23: Two Masters finals, Retirement
Cabal made his last ATP Tour-level professional appearance at the 2023 US Open with Farah where they lost in the second round.[12][2]
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.
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