Juan Sebastian Cabal, Robert Farah talk future plans after US Open farewell: "There’s no better way to say goodbye than this"

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NEW YORK—In front of a standing-room only crowd packed on Court 12, two-time Grand Slam champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah bid farewell to the game after bowing out in their final Grand Slam match at the US Open.

The Colombians, who announced their impending retirement at a press conference in Bogota last month, fell to top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-3, in the second round on Friday. Afterward, the winning Dutch and British team stepped aside to allow Cabal and Farah to salute their loyal Colombian and Latin American followers.

“We were very pleased. Very happy, especially very happy with the crowd and the atmosphere and the match itself—everything that happened afterward and with the way we played,” Cabal told press in Spanish after the match.

“There’s no better way to say goodbye than this: Fighting until the end and giving your all with an incredible atmosphere on the court.”

There’s no better way to say goodbye than this: Fighting until the end and giving your all with an incredible atmosphere on the court. Juan Sebastian Cabal

Cabal, 37, and Farah, 36, are a rare breed of doubles team, having spent their entire careers competing together and then retiring in tandem. The pair met as children in their home city of Cali, Colombia, and teamed up for their first competitive doubles match in 1997 together at just 10 years old. Even back then, Cabal and Farah knew their chemistry was special.

Known for wearing matching outfits on the tennis court, another rarity in a tennis era defined by sponsors and endorsement deals, Cabal and Farah walked into their final US Open press conference in the same fashion. The pair wore coordinating black and white shirts depicting images of their career’s biggest moments—including their two historic Grand Slam triumphs.

In 2019, Cabal and Farah became the first Colombian duo ever to win a Grand Slam at Wimbledon, and a few months later they repeated the feat at the US Open. According to Farah, those victories marked a watershed moment for the sport both at home and throughout Latin America.

“My heart swells up with so much pride knowing we were part of that incredible moment, that before and after,” Farah reflected. “Hopefully it was just the start, and it can be a beautiful reference point for future generations. Not just for Colombian tennis, but for tennis in all of Latin America.”

Historically, Latin American pro tennis has been dominated by champions from Argentina and Brazil, two countries with a strong sports infrastructure and long history with the game. Colombian tennis has been slower to see the same success—currently, there is just one player from the country ranked inside the ATP’s Top 300 in singles (No. 71 Daniel Elahi Galan, aged 27) and two inside the WTA’s Top 300 (No. 68 Camila Osorio, 21 and No. 169 Emiliana Arango, 22).

With two Grand Slams and 17 ATP doubles titles to their name, Farah and Cabal are the country’s most decorated tennis players by far, and have spent most of their careers as Colombia’s lone representatives at the highest levels of the game.

But they’re also keenly aware that their influence has spread far beyond Colombian borders—reflected by the strong international support the pair enjoyed on Friday on Court 12, where a wide variety of Spanish accents and English-speaking voices willed them on as they saved match points.

“We have a lot of friends who tell us, thank you for showing us that there’s a way to make it, thank you for showing us another path, thank you for continuing to compete,” Farah said. “So that shows us that we’ve had an impact, that we’ve been an example—not just in Colombia but for all of Latin American tennis.

“I hope that it’s just the beginning of something bigger. I also hope it means that future generations can take a different mentality, and that they see that getting to this level is not so far out of reach. Achievements like these are not so far out of reach—you can reach out and grab it.

“Obviously it won’t be easy. You still have to work day and night, year after year, things won’t happen overnight. But now, maybe there’s a new perspective on how to accomplish it, which is the most important thing.”

Having risen to world No. 1 in the wake of their 2019 success, Cabal and Farah’s momentum was put on ice due to a series of events in 2020. First, a failed doping test hit Farah in January, keeping him out of that year’s Australian Open and leaving Cabal to find another partner.

Farah was soon cleared with “no fault or negligence” after successfully arguing that the boldenone in his system came from contaminated Colombian beef. But an even bigger blow hit the team—and the rest of the world—a few months later, as COVID-19 shut down most of the tennis calendar. Though the pair went on to lift three trophies at the ATP 500 level in 2021 and reached two more ATP Masters 1000 finals in 2022, it was clear that their most dominant days were behind them.

But the most important factor in their decision to retire, according to Farah, was that he simply wasn’t having fun anymore.

“I was not enjoying the travel, I wasn’t enjoying the day to day of it all,” he explained. “Recently my wife and son traveled to Europe with us, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. And it was hard to see my son like that.”

Despite continuing to win Grand Slam main draw matches and staying competitive with the best in the game—they just pushed the No. 1 seeds to three sets at US Open, after all—the pair said their priorities began to shift after becoming fathers. Cabal welcomed sons Jacobo in 2016 and Juan Martin in 2020 with wife Juliana Vazquez, while Farah’s wife Belen Mozo, a Spanish former golfer, gave birth to their first son Enzo in January of this year.

Watching Cabal raise his growing family on the road, and facing the daunting task of having to do so himself this time around, was the final straw for Farah—who says he was the one to make the decision to call time on their storied careers.

“Could we have played five more years? Sure, but that was never the plan,” he said. “I always wanted to go out knowing that I was still at a high level, that we were still on top. But it’s a decision that I’m taking, and I think that it’s braver, in a way, to retire by choice rather than because the body has given out or the ranking has dropped.”

While Farah and Cabal have waved goodbye to the big stage, their journey is not quite over yet. The pair will suit up one last time to represent Colombia in Davis Cup against Ukraine during September 14-15 and will officially bow out on home soil at an ATP Challenger event in Bogota starting September 25.

And then, in a full-circle moment, the pair plan to conclude their careers by going back to where it all began, representing their native Valle del Cauca in the quadriennal National Games of Colombia.

“If everything goes well, we’ll head to the National Games in November to represent our department—the place that watched us grow up—for our final competitive event of the year, and our final tournament together as professionals,” Cabal confirmed. The duo also hinted at a future involvement in Colombian tennis coaching and development, but right now are more excited about the prospect of a few months off to rest and relax.

“I’m proud of us,” Farah added. “I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of Seba, and I’m proud of the way our families have supported us through these decisions.

“There’s so much ahead of us now, and we’re so excited to keep facing the next challenges that life has for us.”