Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈroβeɾt ˈfaɾa];[2][3] born 20 January 1987)[1] is a Colombian former professional tennis player. A world No. 1 in doubles, he also reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 163 in June 2011.

Robert Farah
Country (sports) Colombia
ResidencePereira, Colombia
Born (1987-01-20) 20 January 1987 (age 37)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada[1]
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro2010
Retired2023
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Southern California
Prize money$4,924,608
Singles
Career record4–9 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 163 (6 June 2011)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ2 (2011)
French OpenQ2 (2011, 2012)
WimbledonQ2 (2011, 2012)
US Open1R (2011)
Doubles
Career record354–223 (at ATP Tour and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles19
Highest rankingNo. 1 (15 July 2019)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenF (2018)
French OpenSF (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
WimbledonW (2019)
US OpenW (2019)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (2018, 2019)
Olympic GamesQF (2021)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2019)
French OpenF (2017)
WimbledonF (2016)
US OpenSF (2016)
Medal record
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place Guadalajara 2011 Singles
Gold medal – first place Guadalajara 2011 Doubles
Last updated on: 19 January 2024.

Farah is a two-time Grand Slam Champion, having won both the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open in 2019 in men's doubles, alongside compatriot Juan Sebastián Cabal. The pair also finished runners-up at the 2018 Australian Open, and Farah reached the final in mixed doubles at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 French Open with Anna-Lena Grönefeld.

Farah won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including two at the Masters 1000 level, and became world No. 1 in doubles for the first time on 15 July 2019. He spent a total of 68 weeks at the top of the doubles rankings, and was year-end No. 1 in both 2019 and 2020. Farah represented Colombia in the Davis Cup from 2010 to his retirement, as well as at the 2016 and at the 2020 Olympic Games.

College career

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Farah played college tennis at the University of Southern California from 2006 to 2010 where he won two NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships as a USC Trojan. He finished his Senior season (2010) as the No. 1 ranked NCAA D1 player in the US in singles, while additionally ranked 2nd in doubles. He won the 2008 NCAA Men's Doubles National Championship, partnering Kaes Van't Hof. He occasionally played doubles at USC with future ATP pro Steve Johnson.[4]

Professional career

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2011

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Farah's consistent doubles partnership with fellow countryman Juan Sebastián Cabal began at Wimbledon 2011, when they defeated the pair consisting of Pakistani Aisam Qureshi (8 in doubles) and Indian Rohan Bopanna (9 in the world), in a tight three set match that went to 21–19 in the final set, before losing in second round against American Michael Russell and Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets.

2013

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In the 2013 Australian Open, Farah and Cabal made their first appearance in the quarterfinals.

2016

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In 2016, Farah reached his first grand slam final, in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon partnering Anna-Lena Grönefeld. They lost in straight sets to Henri Kontinen of Finland and Heather Watson of the UK.

2017

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In 2017, Farah and Cabal reached their first men's doubles grand slam semifinal at the French Open. In the same tournament he reached the final of the mixed doubles partnering Gronefeld where they lost to Rohan Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski in 3 sets.

2019: Two Grand Slam and Second Masters titles, World No. 1

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Farah and countryman Cabal 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 5 set match that required 4 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.[5]

2022: Two Masters finals

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2023: Retirement

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Farah made his last ATP tour-level professional appearance at the 2023 US Open (tennis) with Cabal where they lost in the second round.[6]

Personal life

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Farah is the son of a family of Lebanese descent.[7] His mother is a teacher at the French Liceo Paul Valery de Cali. His father is a retired tennis player (not recognized at professional level).[7] His sister is a former professional tennis player Romy Farah. In 2010, Robert became a professional tennis player.

Controversies

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In July 2018, Farah was given a suspended three months ban and fined £3,800 for promoting a gambling website on his Twitter account. Farah would only serve the suspension if there were further breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.[8]

In October 2019, Farah was tested positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone. He was provisionally suspended from official tournaments from 14 January 2020 and did not compete at the 2020 Australian Open.[9] Farah argued that he had ingested Boldenone from contaminated Colombian meat and the ITF chose not to ban him, holding that he "bears no fault or negligence for the violation".[10]

Performance timelines

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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.

Doubles

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Current through the 2023 US Open.

Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 SR W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R QF 1R 2R 3R 3R F 1R A 2R 2R 3R 0 / 11 18–11
French Open A A 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R SF QF SF SF SF 1R 2R 0 / 12 24–12
Wimbledon A 3R 1R 3R A 2R 2R 2R 3R W NH QF SF 1R 1 / 11 22–10
US Open A 2R 1R 1R 2R 2R 1R A SF W 2R 1R SF 2R 1 / 12 19–11
Win–loss 0–0 3–2 3–4 7–4 1–3 3–4 3–4 7–3 14–4 16–2 5–2 8–4 9–4 4–4 2 / 46 83-44
Year-end championship
ATP Finals did not qualify SF SF DNQ RR DNQ 0 / 3 4–7
National representation
Summer Olympics not held A not held 2R not held QF not held 0 / 2 3–2
Davis Cup PO Z1 Z1 PO PO PO Z1 PO PO RR RR PO QR 0 / 2 16–8
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A 2R 1R A 1R QF NH 1R 2R 1R 0 / 7 4–7
Miami Open A A A A F 2R A 1R QF 2R NH 2R 1R 2R 0 / 8 9–8
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A 2R 1R SF A QF 2R NH SF F 2R 0 / 8 14–8
Madrid Open A A A A SF A 1R 2R SF 1R NH 2R F 1R 0 / 8 9–8
Italian Open A A A A 1R QF 1R A W W 2R 1R 2R 1R 2 / 9 13–7
Canadian Open A A A A A A A A 2R 1R NH QF 1R A 0 / 4 1–4
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A 2R A A F F 1R SF 1R A 0 / 6 9–6
Shanghai Masters A A A A QF QF 2R 2R SF QF not held A 0 / 6 10–6
Paris Masters A A A A 2R 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 2R QF A A 0 / 8 5–8
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 11–6 8–7 4–6 3–4 13–8 16–8 1–3 7–8 9–7 2–5 2 / 64 74–62
Career statistics
Titles 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 2 1 5 0 3 0 0 19
Finals 0 0 1 1 6 5 5 5 4 7 2 4 2 0 42
Overall win–loss 0–1 4–3 16–14 21–17 35–20 37–24 33–21 33–15 39–23 51–20 14–10 38–20 24–20 7–15 353-223
Year-end ranking 160 83 64 48 23 27 30 27 5 1 1 10 29 61%

Mixed doubles

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Tournament 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A 1R 2R 1R 1R QF A 2R 1R A 0 / 7 4–6
French Open A A A 2R 2R 1R F SF 2R NH QF A A 0 / 7 11–7
Wimbledon A 1R 2R 1R A F A 2R A NH A QF A 0 / 6 7–6
US Open A A A 2R 1R SF A A A NH A A A 0 / 3 4–3
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–3 1–3 8–4 4–2 3–3 3–2 0–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 0 / 23 26–22

Major finals

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Grand Slam finals

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Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

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Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2018 Australian Open Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Oliver Marach
  Mate Pavić
4–6, 4–6
Win 2019 Wimbledon Grass   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Nicolas Mahut
  Édouard Roger-Vasselin
6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Win 2019 US Open Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Marcel Granollers
  Horacio Zeballos
6–4, 7–5

Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runners-up)

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Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2016 Wimbledon Grass   Anna-Lena Grönefeld   Heather Watson
  Henri Kontinen
6–7(5–7), 4–6
Loss 2017 French Open Clay   Anna-Lena Grönefeld   Gabriela Dabrowski
  Rohan Bopanna
6–2, 2–6, [10–12]

Masters 1000 finals

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Doubles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)

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Outcome Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2014 Miami Open Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
6–7(8–10), 4–6
Win 2018 Italian Open Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Pablo Carreño Busta
  João Sousa
3–6, 6–4, [10–4]
Loss 2018 Cincinnati Masters Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Win 2019 Italian Open (2) Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Raven Klaasen
  Michael Venus
6–1, 6–3
Loss 2019 Cincinnati Masters Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Ivan Dodig
  Filip Polášek
6–4, 4–6, [6–10]
Loss 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Rajeev Ram
  Joe Salisbury
4–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Loss 2022 Madrid Open Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Wesley Koolhof
  Neal Skupski
7–6(7–4), 4–6, [5–10]

ATP career finals

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Doubles: 42 (19 titles, 23 runner-ups)

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Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (2–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (2–5)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (6–4)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (9–13)
Finals by surface
Hard (5–9)
Clay (12–14)
Grass (2–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (16–22)
Indoor (3–1)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2012 Swiss Open,
Switzerland
250 Series Clay   Santiago Giraldo   Marcel Granollers
  Marc López
4–6, 6–7(9–11)
Loss 0–2 May 2013 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur,
France
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Johan Brunström
  Raven Klaasen
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–3 Jan 2014 Brisbane International,
Australia
250 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Mariusz Fyrstenberg
  Daniel Nestor
7–6(7–4), 4–6, [7–10]
Loss 0–4 Feb 2014 Chile Open,
Chile
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Oliver Marach
  Florin Mergea
3–6, 4–6
Win 1–4 Feb 2014 Rio Open,
Brazil
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   David Marrero
  Marcelo Melo
6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–5 Mar 2014 Brasil Open,
Brazil
250 Series Clay (i)   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Guillermo García-López
  Philipp Oswald
7–5, 4–6, [13–15]
Loss 1–6 Mar 2014 Miami Open,
United States
Masters 1000 Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Bob Bryan
  Mike Bryan
6–7(8–10), 4–6
Win 2–6 Aug 2014 Winston-Salem Open,
United States
250 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  John Peers
6–3, 6–4
Win 3–6 Feb 2015 Brasil Open,
Brazil
250 Series Clay (i)   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Paolo Lorenzi
  Diego Schwartzman
6–4, 6–2
Win 4–6 May 2015 Geneva Open,
Switzerland
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Raven Klaasen
  Lu Yen-hsun
7–5, 4–6, [10–7]
Loss 4–7 Jul 2015 Swedish Open,
Sweden
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jérémy Chardy
  Łukasz Kubot
7–6(8–6), 3–6, [8–10]
Loss 4–8 Aug 2015 German Open,
Germany
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  John Peers
6–2, 3–6, [8–10]
Loss 4–9 Oct 2015 Japan Open,
Japan
500 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Raven Klaasen
  Marcelo Melo
6–7(5–7), 6–3, [7–10]
Win 5–9 Feb 2016 Argentina Open,
Argentina
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Íñigo Cervantes
  Paolo Lorenzi
6–3, 6–0
Win 6–9 Feb 2016 Rio Open,
Brazil (2)
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Pablo Carreño Busta
  David Marrero
7–6(7–5), 6–1
Loss 6–10 May 2016 Bavarian International,
Germany
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Henri Kontinen
  John Peers
3–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Win 7–10 May 2016 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur,
France
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Mate Pavić
  Michael Venus
4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Win 8–10 Oct 2016 Kremlin Cup,
Russia
250 Series Hard (i)   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Julian Knowle
  Jürgen Melzer
7–5, 4–6, [10–5]
Win 9–10 Feb 2017 Argentina Open,
Argentina (2)
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Santiago González
  David Marrero
6–1, 6–4
Loss 9–11 Feb 2017 Rio Open,
Brazil
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Pablo Carreño Busta
  Pablo Cuevas
4–6, 7–5, [8–10]
Loss 9–12 Apr 2017 Hungarian Open,
Hungary
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Brian Baker
  Nikola Mektić
6–7(2–7), 4–6
Win 10–12 May 2017 Bavarian International,
Germany
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jérémy Chardy
  Fabrice Martin
6–3, 6–3
Loss 10–13 May 2017 Geneva Open,
Switzerland
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jean-Julien Rojer
  Horia Tecău
6–2, 6–7(9–11), [6–10]
Loss 10–14 Jan 2018 Australian Open,
Australia
Grand Slam Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Oliver Marach
  Mate Pavić
4–6, 4–6
Loss 10–15 Feb 2018 Argentina Open,
Argentina
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Andrés Molteni
  Horacio Zeballos
3–6, 7–5, [3–10]
Win 11–15 May 2018 Italian Open,
Italy
Masters 1000 Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Pablo Carreño Busta
  João Sousa
3–6, 6–4, [10–4]
Loss 11–16 Aug 2018 Cincinnati Masters,
United States
Masters 1000 Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
6–4, 3–6, [6–10]
Loss 11–17 Jan 2019 Sydney International,
Australia
250 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
4–6, 3–6
Win 12–17 Apr 2019 Barcelona Open,
Spain
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Win 13–17 May 2019 Italian Open,
Italy (2)
Masters 1000 Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Raven Klaasen
  Michael Venus
6–1, 6–3
Win 14–17 Jun 2019 Eastbourne International,
United Kingdom
250 Series Grass   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Maximo González
  Horacio Zeballos
3–6, 7–6(7–4), [10–6]
Win 15–17 Jul 2019 Wimbledon Championships,
United Kingdom
Grand Slam Grass   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Nicolas Mahut
  Édouard Roger-Vasselin
6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–6(8–6), 6–7(5–7), 6–3
Loss 15–18 Aug 2019 Cincinnati Masters,
United States
Masters 1000 Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Ivan Dodig
  Filip Polášek
6–4, 4–6, [6–10]
Win 16–18 Sep 2019 US Open,
United States
Grand Slam Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Marcel Granollers
  Horacio Zeballos
6–4, 7–5
Loss 16–19 Feb 2020 Mexican Open,
Mexico
500 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Łukasz Kubot
  Marcelo Melo
6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–4), [9–11]
Loss 16–20 Oct 2020 Forte Village Sardegna Open,
Italy
250 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Marcus Daniell
  Philipp Oswald
3–6, 4–6
Loss 16–21 Feb 2021 Great Ocean Road Open,
Australia
250 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Jamie Murray
  Bruno Soares
3–6, 6–7(7–9)
Win 17–21 Mar 2021 Dubai Tennis Championships,
United Arab Emirates
500 Series Hard   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Nikola Mektić
  Mate Pavić
7–6(7–0), 7–6(7–4)
Win 18–21 Apr 2021 Barcelona Open,
Spain
500 Series Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Kevin Krawietz
  Horia Tecău
6–4, 6–2
Win 19–21 Oct 2021 Vienna Open,
Austria
500 Series Hard (i)   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Rajeev Ram
  Joe Salisbury
6–4, 6–2
Loss 19–22 Apr 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters,
Monaco
Masters 1000 Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Rajeev Ram
  Joe Salisbury
4–6, 6–3, [7–10]
Loss 19–23 May 2022 Madrid Open,
Spain
Masters 1000 Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal   Wesley Koolhof
  Neal Skupski
7–6(7–4), 4–6, [5–10]

ATP Challenger & ITF Futures

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Singles: 5 (3–2)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
ITF Futures (2–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 1. 7 June 2010 Maracaibo, Venezuela Hard   Iván Miranda 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Winner 2. 21 June 2010 Barquisimeto, Venezuela Hard   Iván Endara 6–4, 6–2
Winner 3. 12 July 2010 Bogotá, Colombia Clay   Carlos Salamanca 6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–3)
Runner–up 4. 16 September 2011 Aguascalientes, Mexico Clay   Juan Sebastián Cabal 6–4, 7–6(7–3)
Runner–up 5. 6 August 2012 Aptos, USA Hard   Steve Johnson 6–3, 6–3

References

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  1. ^ a b ATPtennis.com – Players – Profiles – Profile
  2. ^ fedecoltenis (11 September 2014). "SALUDO ROBERT FARAH" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Ministerio TIC Colombia (7 July 2017). "#BajemosElTono – Robert Farah, tenista profesional" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2018 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "Robert Farah Player Profile". USC Athletics. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Colombian History: Cabal/Farah Triumph in Wimbledon Final Thriller". ATP Tour. 13 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Cabal/Farah Say Adios to the Big Stage". Association of Tennis Professionals. 3 September 2023. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Robert Farah, a Colombian-Lebanese with tennis in his genes". Lorientlejour.com (published 2019). 19 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Robert Farah suspended for three months for endorsing betting". BBC Sport. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  9. ^ "The truth behind World No.1's mysterious Aussie Open exit". 7news.com.au. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  10. ^ "Robert Farah: No ban for doubles champion despite positive test". BBC Sport. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
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