Paris, June 9: Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia won the French Open men’s doubles against Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-5, 6-3 in the final on Saturday.
Pavic completed the set of winning all four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles and rushed to celebrate with his team on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“First (title) for me here, so I’m very happy,” Pavic said. “It feels special. I lost here twice the final.” Arevalo grabbed a scarf with his country’s name on it, raised it aloft and chanted “Salvador, Salvador.” It was Arevalo’s second men’s doubles title after winning at Roland Garros in 2022 with Jean-Julien Rojer.
“I want to thank Mate for trusting me and believing in me, to fight together. We did it together, man,” an emotional Arevalo said. “My second title here also feels special.” With Arevalo serving for the match at 40-30, Pavic missed a straightforward-looking volley. The ball clipped the top of the net, landed on the wrong side, and Pavic put his hand over his mouth in disbelief.
But Pavic, the reigning Olympic champion in men’s doubles, made up for it moments later by saving a break point with a difficult smash down the middle when leaning backward.
They won on the second match point when Vavassori hit a forehand wide, and the ninth-seeded winners both fell to the red clay.
The 38-year-old Bolelli is a former singles player who reached a highest ranking of No. 36 but did not win a title in singles. He won the Australian Open men’s doubles in 2015 alongside countryman Fabio Fognini and has reached the semifinals in doubles at every Grand Slam tournament.
Vavassori has lost both major finals he has played in men’s doubles. They were seeded 11th. (AP)
