Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut became just the third all-French team in the Open Era to win Roland Garros, defeating Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-2, 7-6(4) on Saturday.
Herbert and Mahut join Henri Leconte/Yannick Noah (1984) and Julien Benneteau/Edouard Roger-Vasseline (2014), saving six of seven break points in their one-hour, 40-minute victory. The duo is the first French team to win three or more major titles together in the Open Era. Herbert and Mahut, who also won the 2015 US Open and 2016 Wimbledon, defeated the ATP Doubles Race To London leaders for the third time in as many FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.
It is their 12th tour-level doubles triumph together — Herbert has been victorious 13 times and Mahut has lifted 22 trophies. As a result of his win, Mahut, on his 18th attempt, broke Mark Woodforde’s Open Era record for most Roland Garros appearances (14) before lifting the title.
Marach and Pavic were bidding to win their second Grand Slam title of the season, after clinching their maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. The Austrian-Croatian tandem were also aiming to join Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan as the only team in the Open Era to win the first two Grand Slam events of the season.
Herbert and Mahut receive 2,000 ATP Doubles Ranking points and share €560,000 in prize money for lifting the trophy. Marach and Pavic gain 1,200 ATP Doubles Ranking points and will split €280,000.
Did You Know?
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut ended Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic's 17-match unbeaten run at the start of the season. Marach and Pavic won titles at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the ASB Classic and the Australian Open, before falling to the French duo in the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament final.
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