by Hanlon Walsh
Fernando Romboli and John-Patrick Smith captured their first ATP doubles title as a team on Sunday afternoon at the 2025 Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. In the final, they defeated Santiago Gonzalez and Federico Agustin Gomez 6-1, 6-4.
For Romboli and Smith, the occasion marked only their second event competing together, who have amassed a 7-1 record thus far in their new partnership.
Unlike the all-American singles final, the US Clay doubles championship featured four nations represented: Brazil (Romboli), Australia (Smith), Mexico (Gonzalez), and Argentina (Gomez). The Brazilian-Aussie duo stormed through the Houston draw, winning four straight matches without dropping a set all week. Along the way, they notched a trio of impressive victories over a mix of American and Aussie teams, including U.S. rising stars Jenson Brooksby and Learner Tien in the opening round.
Deciding deuce points were a key theme in the championship match, offering Houston fans a firsthand look at the razor-thin margins of the no-ad scoring format used in doubles. In the first set, five of the seven games were decided by deuce points, all in Romboli and Smith’s favor. The Aussie-Brazilian pair also won a crucial deuce point to secure a service break early in the second set and never looked back.
“I would say at the beginning we didn’t start well and got a little lucky. A lot of deuce points went our way and they made a few mistakes. I think we won three on our serve and broke them twice on deciding deuce points. We usually don’t do anything different on the deuce point…just stick to our game plan and go for our shots. Sometimes you need to get a little lucky in those moments to come away with the title. We caught a few early breaks and then hit our stride after that.” - Fernando Romboli
With the win, Romboli and Smith became the first unseeded team to win the US Clay doubles title since 2018 (Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald) and only the third team in River Oaks history to win the title without dropping a set (Purcell/Eben in 2022; Mike/Bob Bryan in 2010).
Romboli himself is also the first Brazilian champion in tournament history, while Smith maintained a four-year streak of Australian doubles champions at River Oaks (2022 - Ebden/Purcell, 2023/2024 - Purcell/Thompson).
“I’ve been coming to Houston for many, many years. I’m 36 now, and this is the best result I’ve ever had here. I’m definitely not taking this win for granted. This event is phenomenal—the people, the staff, and the club. Happy to keep the Aussie winning tradition going too with Purcell, Ebden, and Thomo.” – John-Patrick Smith
While it marked their first ATP Tour title together, it was the second career title for each player. Smith’s lone previous ATP title also came on U.S. soil, in 2018 at the Atlanta Open with Nick Monroe, while Romboli won his debut title in Umag, Croatia in 2021. Both 36-year-olds are veterans of the pro doubles tour and have known each other since juniors, but Houston was only their second event competing together.
Last month at Indian Wells, Romboli and Smith teamed up for the first time and snuck into the draw as last-minute alternates. To their pleasant surprise, they embarked on a Cinderella run to the semifinals—marking their best result at a Masters 1000 event, individually and as a team.
“It was a crazy week—we got there as alternates and almost missed the deadline," said Romboli. "I arrived from Argentina just a few hours before our match. We played really well, even in the semifinal that we lost. It gave us so much confidence and energy going into Houston.”
For Romboli, the third time proved to be the charm in Houston, after reaching the US Clay quarterfinals in 2023 and the semifinals last year. Smith, who first played here in 2014, had never advanced beyond the quarterfinals in four prior appearances. This week’s win was extra special for Smith, who welcomed his first son just over two weeks ago.
“It’s been a complete whirlwind… he’s 16 days old now. I haven’t slept much lately for obvious reasons. Fortunately, I convinced my wife to let me come out here and play this event, so I’m glad it paid off. It feels incredible to come away with the win—and for both of us to claim our second title.” - John-Patrick Smith
Smith will now head home to Florida, where he resides full-time, to spend time with his family before rejoining Romboli for the European clay swing. Their next slate could likely include Munich and Barcelona, but ultimately will depend on which events they can enter, having recently cracked the top 60 as a team following their title in Houston.
“Getting up to top 60 is huge because now we can get into more events together instead of breaking off and playing with higher-ranked partners," said Smith. "It just makes it easier for both of us to play consistently as a team, train as a team, and work together as one unit instead of flip-flopping partners all the time. We’ll keep playing a full schedule and working hard to make the top 30, which will help us get into Masters 1000 events.”
But for now, they’ll savor the win—and in Smith’s case, also a newborn—before heading to the next stop on tour.
