Arends and Pel knocked out Arévalo and Pavić from Roland-Garros after a great drama
Sander Arends and David Pel produced one of the more notable surprises in the men's doubles at Roland-Garros in 2026. The Dutch combination defeated the seventh seeds Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić after a comeback and two extremely tight set finishes, by the score of 3:6, 7:6(9:7), 7:6(10:6). According to the official Roland-Garros score sheet, the third-round match, that is, the round of 16 of the men's doubles, was played on June 1, 2026, on Court No. 7 in Paris, and lasted two hours and 41 minutes.
For Arends and Pel, the victory carries additional weight because it was achieved against a pair that arrived in Paris with high status and clear ambitions. Arévalo and Pavić were placed as the seventh seeds, and the ATP, in its report, recalls them as the Roland-Garros champions from 2024. Their defeat in the round of 16 is therefore not only the result of one uncertain match, but also an important shift in the men's doubles draw, in which Arends and Pel continued a series of victories against experienced and ranked opponents.
Comeback after losing the first set
Arévalo and Pavić opened the duel better and won the first set 6:3. Such a start was in line with their seeded status and the experience of a pair that already knew how to win on Parisian clay. However, Arends and Pel did not allow the early deficit to determine the continuation of the encounter. In the second set, they stayed in the match long enough for the decision to go to a tie-break, where every mistake could have meant the end of their chances of reaching the best eight.
The second set proved to be the key point of the encounter. The Dutchmen won the tie-break 9:7 and thereby leveled the score in sets. The official Roland-Garros score display confirms that Pavić and Arévalo's pair lost the finish in that section after additional points, which clearly shows how little separated the seventh seeds from steering the match in the direction that suited them. Instead, Arends and Pel gained new momentum and entered the deciding set with confirmation that they could withstand the pressure of the favorites.
The third set was a continuation of the same tension. Neither side managed to close out the match before another finish, and the decision again fell in a tie-break. This time Arends and Pel were even more convincing in the decisive points and won 10:6. In doing so, they completed the comeback against a pair that had significant winning capital in Paris, but did not find a way to stop the Dutch surge in two consecutive tie-breaks.
Pavić and Arévalo stopped after a convincing start to the tournament
The defeat for Arévalo and Pavić came after two previous successful appearances in this year's Paris draw. The official Roland-Garros website states that in the first round, on May 28, 2026, on Court No. 3, they defeated Trey Hilderbrand and Joshua Paris 6:3, 6:1, in a match that lasted one hour and six minutes. It was a quick and convincing entry into the tournament, without major complications for the seventh seeds.
In the second round, they had to play a more demanding encounter. The ATP reported that Arévalo and Pavić defeated Robert Galloway and John Peers 6:4, 3:6, 6:3, after one hour and 46 minutes of play. According to the same report, in that match they were outplayed in the number of winners, but they achieved the decisive break in the third set in the fourth game and then preserved the advantage until the end. That victory kept them on the path toward an attempt at another major result in Paris, but the duel against Arends and Pel interrupted that run.
Before the round of 16, the ATP also stated that Arévalo and Pavić were seeking their first joint title in 2026 in Paris. Such a context further emphasizes the importance of the defeat, because it was a pair that still belonged to the top of the competition, but left Roland-Garros without reaching the closing stages of the tournament. In doubles matches, such turns are not rare, but the way in which Arends and Pel survived two sets decided by a margin shows that this was not a fleeting drop by the favorites, but the performance of a pair that was more stable in the decisive moments.
The Dutchmen eliminated seeds for the second time in a row
The triumph over Arévalo and Pavić was not an isolated result. Arends and Pel had already, in the previous round, gone through an almost equally dramatic scenario against the twelfth seeds Austin Krajicek and Nikola Mektić. According to the official Roland-Garros score sheet, that match was also played on Court No. 7, lasted three hours and one minute, and ended with a Dutch victory 4:6, 7:6(9:7), 7:6(12:10).
Such a sequence of results gives their place in the quarterfinals special weight. In two consecutive matches, Arends and Pel lost the first set and then came back through tie-breaks against highly seeded opponents. Against Krajicek and Mektić, they had to withstand an even longer deciding tie-break, while against Arévalo and Pavić they repeated the same mental toughness and turned tight finishes into victories. That is a pattern that in doubles often decides the difference between a good tournament and a major step forward.
For Croatian tennis, this part of the draw was especially interesting because two Croatian winners of major titles in doubles competition found themselves in the path of Arends and Pel. Nikola Mektić went out with Krajicek in the second round, and Mate Pavić with Arévalo in the round of 16. Both encounters ended after comebacks and two lost tie-breaks for the opponents of the Dutch pair, which further underlines how little was missing for the draw to develop completely differently.
The experience of Arévalo and Pavić was not enough in the finishes
Marcelo Arévalo and Mate Pavić entered the match as one of the pairs that at Roland-Garros cannot be viewed only through their current position in the draw. Their title from 2024, which the ATP highlights in the context of this year's tournament, gave them the status of a proven combination on Parisian clay. Pavić is also one of the most successful doubles specialists of his generation, while Arévalo had already previously proved that he handles Grand Slam finishes well.
Still, experience does not guarantee control in finishes decided by a few points. After winning the first set, Arévalo and Pavić had the scoreboard advantage, but they did not manage to create enough separation in the continuation. Two lost tie-breaks left the impression of a missed opportunity, especially because both sets in which Arends and Pel prevailed could have gone the other way. In such circumstances, the statistical difference often becomes less important than calmness on serve, reaction on return, and the ability to play the point without hesitation.
The defeated pair leaves Paris earlier than they expected given their reputation and seeded status. Still, the result does not change the fact that Arévalo and Pavić remain one of the relevant combinations in men's doubles. Their tournament ended in the round of 16, but in a match in which they were close to advancing until the very end. It is precisely that closeness that makes the defeat harder, because the outcome did not happen through a convincing drop, but through a series of details that, in the finishes, went to the opponents' side.
Arends and Pel face a new challenge against a French pair
With the victory against the seventh seeds, Arends and Pel secured the quarterfinal, where Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert await them. The ATP reported that the Frenchmen secured their place among the best eight with a 6:3, 6:3 victory in a French duel against Titouan Droguet and Hugo Gaston. For Arends and Pel, that means a new test against a pair that will have the support of the home crowd in Paris and additional motivation to take advantage of the open part of the draw.
Herbert carries great experience in doubles competition, while Halys, in home conditions, has the opportunity to achieve one of the more significant results in this discipline. On the other hand, Arends and Pel enter the quarterfinal with victories that must have raised their confidence. After eliminating the twelfth and seventh seeds, they can no longer be viewed as a pair that merely took advantage of a favorable schedule. Their path to the quarterfinal was built on repeating the same model: stay in the match after losing a set, do not give way in the tie-break, and seize the first opportunity when the favorite comes under pressure.
The quarterfinal duel will therefore have both a tactical and a psychological dimension. The French pair will try to impose a rhythm with the support of the stands, while Arends and Pel will seek a continuation of the series in which they have already shown resilience in the most demanding moments. Roland-Garros has thus gained, in men's doubles, a story about a pair that broke through with two major comebacks, but also about seeds who paid the price for unused finishes. In a discipline in which momentum can change in just a few points, it was precisely those details that decided that Arends and Pel, instead of Arévalo and Pavić, would play the quarterfinal.
Sources:
- Roland-Garros – official score sheet of the match Marcelo Arévalo / Mate Pavić against Sander Arends / David Pel in the third round of the men's doubles in 2026 (link)
- Roland-Garros – official score sheet of the match Sander Arends / David Pel against Austin Krajicek / Nikola Mektić in the second round of the men's doubles in 2026 (link)
- Roland-Garros – official score sheet of the match Marcelo Arévalo / Mate Pavić against Trey Hilderbrand / Joshua Paris in the first round of the men's doubles in 2026 (link)
- ATP Tour – report on the men's doubles results at Roland-Garros 2026, including the victory of Arends and Pel and the previous appearances of Arévalo and Pavić (link)