Former USC teammates and NCAA champions Robert Farah and Steve Johnson had their reunion in Rio de Janeiro cut shorter than they had hoped after the Colombian and U.S. Olympians were forced to square off in the doubles second round today.
Farah and his Colombian partner Juan Sebastian Cabal had taken out the draw’s top seeds the previous day in the opening round, while Johnson and USA partner Jack Sock sagged a straight-set victory of their own to set up the second-round clash against the Colombians.
Farah and Johnson, who won 2009 and 2010 NCAA Team Championships together as Trojans, both finished their respective Trojan playing careers ranked No. 1 in the nation in singles and No. 2 in doubles. In 2010, Farah and Johnson were paired up together in doubles as the No. 2 team in the land. Farah also laid claim to the 2008 NCAA Doubles Championship, while Johnson collected back-to-back NCAA Singles Championships in 2011 and 2012 to go along with NCAA Team Championships those years as well.
Today, the two Trojans had to square off on opposite sides of the net. Americans Johnson/Sock pocketed the first set and then had to fend off the talented Colombians Farah/Cabal in the second. Set two would stretch to a tiebreaker, where Johnson/Sock buckled in and finished off the win with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) decision. At the close of the match, Johnson and Farah embraced at the net after the bittersweet reunion saw Johnson/Sock take the spot in the quarterfinal round while Farah/Cabal’s competition in Rio has come to a close.
Johnson’s singles action is still underway in Rio. He picked up a strong first-round win on the first day of competition and now awaits the schedule assignment for his second-round clash against Portugal’s Gasteo Elias.
WATCH THE MATCH REPLAY: http://stream.nbcolympics.com/tennis-day-3-court-4-match-4
NEXT IN DOUBLES:
Quarterfinals (Date/Time TBD)
Steve Johnson / Sock (USA) vs. [8] Bautista Agut/Ferrer (ESP) - TBD
PREVIOUS DOUBLES RESULTS:
First Round (Aug. 7)
Robert Farah / Cabal (COL) def. [1] Herbert/Mahut (FRA) - 7-6 (4), 6-3
Steve Johnson / Sock (USA) def. Peralta/Podlipnik-Castillo (CHI) - 6-2, 6-2
Second Round (Aug. 8)
Steve Johnson / Sock (USA) def. Robert Farah / Cabal (COL) - 6-4, 7-6 (1)
