Monday, 09/09/2019

NEW YORK — Not two months after winning the first Grand Slam title of his career, USC grad Robert Farah has become just the third Trojan to win back-to-back Grand Slam crowns in a calendar year. In tandem with his fellow Colombian Juan Sebástian Cabal, Farah churned out a straight-set victory in today’s US Open doubles championship match. That follows the pair’s Wimbledon doubles title claimed in July and puts Farah in company alongside Gene Mako and Rafael Osuna as the only other Trojan men’s tennis players to have won back-to-back Gran Slam titles. A two-time NCAA Team Champion and 2008 NCAA Doubles Champion with Kaes Van't Hof, Farah finished his USC career in 2010 as a six-time All-American.

In 1938, Mako followed up a doubles title at Wimbledon with another crown at the US Open. So, too, did Osuna go back-to-back with doubles titles and those events in 1963. Now, Farah has replicated that Wimbledon-US Open domination with his 2019 trophy collection. The last US Open doubles winner from USC was Wayne Black, who claimed the crown in New York in 2001.

Farah — also a 2016 Olympian — has seen great success as a pro since graduating from USC in 2010. He and Cabal had become the first Colombians to win at Wimbledon after gutting out an intense five-set victory that raged on for four hours and 56 minutes. In today’s US Open final, top-seeded Farah and Cabal issued a much smoother 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 8 seeds Granollers/Zeballos to lock up their second straight Grand Slam title.