Murray/Soares Close On Maiden Masters 1000 Triumph

After a thrilling Saturday of doubles action in which the competitors played both the quarter-finals and semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open, veteran pairs Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares and Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah will meet on Sunday for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.

Murray and Soares won eight of the final nine points of a Match Tie-break to defeat sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-7(7), 6-2, 10-6. The Scottish-Brazilian team now lead the Dutch-Romanian duo 3-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. 

Murray and Soares, who have captured eight tour-level titles together, including two Grand Slam championships, are pursuing their maiden Masters 1000 triumph. They own a 29-13 record this campaign, lifting trophies in Acapulco and Washington. Earlier Saturday, they defeated fifth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 7-5, 6-7(6), 10-6.

In the final, they will face seventh seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who ousted Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-4. That was the only match of the day for the Colombians, as they got a walkover into the last four when Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya withdrew due a Peya elbow injury. 

Cabal and Farah earned their first Masters 1000 title earlier this year at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia. In the semi-finals, they beat Murray and Soares in a Match Tie-break to even their series at 2-2. The No. 3 team in the ATP Doubles Race To London will move up to second regardless of Sunday’s result.