Frenchmen surge into doubles final

 - Dan Imhoff

Chardy and Martin thrill home fans with upset of third seeds to set final clash with German duo

Jérémy Chardy Fabrice Martin Roland-Garros 2019©Cédric Lecocq / FFT

Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin kept home hopes alive of back-to-back French men’s doubles champions at Roland-Garros on Wednesday.

The good friends took down Colombian third seeds Juan-Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5, 6-4 to reach set an all-unseeded final against Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

Chardy and Martin will look to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Nicolas Mahut and Pierres-Hugues Herbert, who sparked raucous celebrations on Court Philippe-Chatrier last year when they hoisted the trophy.

It is the fourth time in seven years an all-French team is through to the men’s doubles final in Paris.

In what could have been a Tokyo 2020 Olympic semi-final line-up, the French beat the Colombians, and Germans Krawietz and Mies saw off Argentine pair Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-3.



Kristina Mladenovic had the chance to assume the world No.1 women’s doubles ranking had Belgian Elise Mertens and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka lost their quarter-final.

But Mertens and Sabalenka proved too strong for Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko 7-5, 6-2, ensuring Mertens would hold onto top spot.

The sixth seeds complete the women’s doubles semi-final line-up and will face second seeds Timea Babos and Mladenovic for a place in the final.

In mixed doubles semi-finals, Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig upset top seeds Nicole Melichar and Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-1 to set a final showdown with No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic.

Dabrowski and Pavic narrowly held off Nadia Kichenok and Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi 6-7(4), 6-1, [10-8].