Ninth seeds' victory creates history for Pavic as sixth man to complete career Golden Slam
©Nicolas Gouhier / FFTMate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo have completed a historic triumph over Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori for their maiden Roland-Garros doubles title on Saturday.
The ninth seeds’ 7-5, 6-3 victory over the Italians made Pavic just the sixth man in the Open era after Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, Daniel Nestor, and Bob and Mike Bryan to complete the career Grand Slam and win Olympic doubles gold.
The win marked their third title this season after Hong Kong and Geneva and handed Arevalo his second triumph in Paris, having prevailed two years ago with Jean-Julien Rojer.
“They're pretty big names in the world of tennis, in the world of doubles, and to be out there with those few names, honestly, I don't think I'm aware still,” Pavic said.
“It happened to me also, to be honest, when I won Olympics... I was happy, and all that stuff, but I was not aware till I got that feeling, you know, from other people… Then it just sticks in my mind that I'm out there with those five guys, which it's amazing.”
Neither team could be split through the opening 10 games before Bolelli and Vavassori brought up their first break points. Pavic was up to task and after four opportunities went begging it only spurred on the ninth-seeded pairing’s belief as he held for 6-5.
©Philippe Montigny / FFTThe duo secured the first break in the following game when from 40-0 down they roared back to break Vavassori at the 48-minute mark for the set.
After early breaks were exchanged in the second, Arevalo ripped a return to land the crucial blow, a break of Vavassori’s serve and the chance to serve for the championship.
Pavic could only grab his face in disbelief when on the first match point his forehand volley from on top of the net skimmed along the tape and dropped back on his side.
It was a miss of mere millimetres and a heart-in-mouth moment for the Croatian, who had already fallen twice in the final in Paris. But there was no mistake at the second time of asking and the result was in the bag after 92 minutes.
“I would compare this to my first Wimbledon final when I played with actually my coach today, Oliver Marach. That was, of course, the first final Wimbledon, it was special,” Pavic said.
“This one just because of the whole thing, of course I had it in the back of my mind, then I lost here twice the finals. I was pretty close even before. Of course, you have it, you have it there in your mind, you want to win.
“We were serving, he was serving for the match, and then those few crazy points happened. It was just a lot of emotions going through and it was stressful and it was not easy, not easy to play, at least for me personally.”
In a nod to three-time singles champion Gustavo Kuerten, El Savador’s Aravelo drew a heart in the clay and lay down on the court in celebration at his most successful major.
“I just felt a lot of love in that moment, yeah. But it was maybe a little bit, when I was growing up, Guga Kuerten was one of my favourite players,” Arevalo said. “I remember watching him when I was a kid on the TV. I remember watching him winning three titles here. I remember his celebration. I got his fire.”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
