Francisco Cabral Misses Out on Seventh ATP Title in Bastad

Portuguese tennis player Francisco Cabral fell short in his bid for a seventh ATP title, losing in the doubles final of the Bastad tournament in Sweden. Partnering with Frenchman Theo Arribage, the Franco-Portuguese duo was defeated by Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

The match, lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes, concluded with a 6-3, 6-4 victory for the French pair. Cabral and Arribage, who were the top seeds in the competition, couldn't overcome the second seeds, who proved more effective in crucial moments.

The Franco-Portuguese pair had four break point opportunities throughout the encounter but failed to convert any. In contrast, Doumbia and Reboul, finalists at the Estoril Open in 2024, leveraged their greater combined experience to break their opponents' serve and secure their seventh title as a partnership.

For Francisco Cabral, 29, currently ranked 25th in the world in doubles, this marked his 12th career final on the main tour and his second of the year. The Portuguese specialist, who once reached world No. 19 in the discipline, clinched the Brisbane title earlier in 2026 alongside Austrian Lucas Miedler.

The Porto native, considered the nation's top doubles specialist, boasts victories at the Estoril Open in 2022 with Nuno Borges, and in Gstaad the same year with Bosnian Tomislav Brkic. He also triumphed in Gstaad, Hangzhou, and Athens in 2025, all alongside Miedler.

The partnership with Theo Arribage was rekindled in Bastad, having first found success at the end of 2024 with a title win at the Maia Challenger.

Now, Francisco Cabral is set to return to Portugal to compete in the Estoril Open, where he will reunite with Nuno Borges, a partnership that won the Portuguese ATP event four years ago.