PARIS — Top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos successfully defended their French Open men’s doubles crown on Saturday with a commanding 6-4, 6-2 victory over Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten. The triumph marks the third Grand Slam title for the veteran duo since they initially joined forces in 2019.
The seasoned pairing—consisting of the 40-year-old Spaniard Granollers and the 41-year-old Argentine Zeballos—justified their tournament top seeding by completing their entire 2026 Roland Garros campaign without dropping a single set. Last year, the duo claimed both the French Open and the U.S. Open titles.
“I’m 41 years old (and) this is one of the best moments of my career. So it’s never too late for anybody,” an emotional Zeballos remarked after the match.
The second-seeded pairing of Finland’s Heliovaara and Britain’s Patten struggled to find their rhythm early on against the top seeds’ aggressive net play. Heliovaara faced difficulties with his service games throughout the encounter, and a critical double fault in the third game handed Granollers and Zeballos the opening break of the match. While Heliovaara and Patten fought back to level the first set at 3-3, Granollers responded by hammering two decisive forehand winners to break right back, swinging the momentum permanently back to the defending champions.
The second set began under similar pressure for the challengers. The 30-year-old Patten opened his service game with two unforced errors and a double fault, gifting Granollers and Zeballos an immediate break. The Argentine veteran then took control, striking clinical winners across the court to rapidly extend their lead to 3-0—a deficit that proved mathematically and psychologically insurmountable for the opposing pair.
Following the defeat, Patten expressed gratitude to his support camp and his 37-year-old Finnish partner. “Sorry guys, wasn’t the best, but thank you,” Patten told his family and friends in the stands. “Harri, thanks for being my partner. We’re going to bounce back stronger, we know that.”
