FRENCH OPEN NEWS & NOTES
*Errani-Paolini won the titles last year as two seeds: 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 over Danilina-Krunic. They were 1.16 (-625) favorites in the championship match. The win was the second straight for favorites after two straight years seeing the underdogs capture the titles. The third set finish was the third time in the last four years that the championship match went the distance.
*Three set matches overall numbered 27 out of 63 completed matches. Thirteen of those came in round one with eight more in round two. That was down dramatically from just 14 three setters in 2024 with ten of those coming in rounds one and two. While the early rounds have been a beacon for three setters, the semifinals are a round not to forget with at least one semifinal going the distance in five of the last six runs at Roland Garros.
*Underdogs won 18 matches in 2025. There were some monster scores with 5.84 (+484) and 7.64 (+664) standing out as the two largest. The 7.64 win came in round two when (15)Melichar-Martinez/Samsonova lost. The 5.84 was courtesy of unseeded Danilina-Krunic who beat (1)Siniakova-Townsend in the quarterfinals. By volume, round one houses the most dogs barking with eight. Six more came in round two. The 2025 tally was up from 15 dog wins in 2024. Eleven of those were in rounds one and two combined. The largest score of 2024 came at 5.92 (+492) in round two when (6)Kichenok-Ostapenko fell.
*Unseeded pairs continued their strong trend of being involved with the late stages of the French Open. Danilina-Krunic’s trip to last year’s final marked the third unseeded finalist in the last four runs at Roland Garros. Both 2022 and 2023 did produce unseeded champions with Garcia-Mladenovic and Hsieh-Wang taking home the hardware. There have also been at least three unseeded quarter finalists in ten straight runs of this tournament, so there figures to be a few surprises along the way again. I’ll focus on the best shots in the Unseeded Menaces section below.
*There won’t be a repeat this year with Paolini choosing to focus on singles this week, while Errani teams up with 18-year old Austrian Lilli Tagger for the first time. That’s a shame since the Italians have been involved in two straight finals in Paris. It hasn’t been too long since we saw the last repeat with Babos-Mladenovic being successful in 2019-2020. With the Italians not competing together in 2026, the focus will be even larger on top seeds Siniakova-Townsend. They were bounced in the quarter finalist last year and fell short of making a final for the first time when they lost in the semifinals in Rome earlier this month. (2)Danilina-Krunic will reprise their partnership after not pairing during the clay swing prior to Paris. Last year’s finalists were the duo that took out Siniakova-Townsend and they’ve beaten the top seeds in two of three career clashes with both wins at Grand Slam events.
Rotating back to the unseeded field, who is ready to fill the surprise role this year? History suggests there will be a few unseeded pairs in the hunt, so let’s look closer at this year’s possibilities.
Haddad Maia-Samsonova
This is an interesting pair. They opened their French Open campaign with an upset of (16)Kichenok-Krawczyk on Tuesday in three sets. That was their first match together, but it highlighted their potential. It was Haddad Maia’s first doubles match of the year, so presumably she could improve with more matches. Last year, she went 23-11 in doubles play and made round three in Paris with Siegemund. Samsonova is now 9-8 in doubles this year with a clay title in Stuttgart earlier when paired with Melichar-Martinez. They’re in the Danilina-Krunic quarter, but it looks relatively open and this could be a pair that pulls off more surprises.
Sutjiadi-Tjen
This Indonesian duo has proven tough in limited action already with just a 2-3 record this year, but two of the three losses in super tie breaks and the third coming 7-6, 7-5. There is some obvious chemistry here and that can go a long way in helping craft some upsets. Interestingly, if they survive their round one match, they will meet Haddad Maia-Samsonova, guaranteeing one of those pairs a spot in the round of 16.
Kostyuk-Ruse
A must inclusion any time I make these lists as this duo has a lot of Grand Slam experience and a fairly solid track record. This will be their fourth trip to Paris, but first since their 2024 semifinal. They’ve made it as far as the quarters two times. They proved their danger last year by making the Australian Open quarterfinals. This is going to be their first tournament together in 2026, so that will be the part that bears watching, especially opening against (3)Mertens-Zhang. With the three seeds scuffling a bit with losses in two of three on clay, they may well have a shot to help blow up that quarter early.
Hsieh-Wang
You can’t rule out a resurrection for the 2023 champions who are headed to round two after cruising 6-4, 6-1 in their opener on Tuesday. This is just their second tournament of the year, but they already knocked off Mertens-Zhang in Rome. The danger is there, but so are (13)Guo-Mladenovic next round. They’re still a very real danger duo to watch though and being in a half with Mertens-Zhang as well, they will have some confidence that a quarterfinal or better is attainable.
Kozyreva-Shymanovich
Their wins may not be impressive with ten of their 15 wins coming in a three week span at the Antalya 1, 2 and 3 tournaments in March. Still, they are 15-3 this year and went 34-11 last year. Clay has been great for them with a 28-4 record on the surface since the start of 2025. The big question is whether or not they can step up in weight class against some of the top tier WTA pairs? Being in a section with (4)Dabrowski-Stefani and (15)Eikeri-Gleason is going to be tough, but this is a duo that will find out whether they pass or fail this test early.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
2025 reversed the recent trend of seeds avoiding round one upsets. In 2023 and 2024, only ONE seed lost in their opener. Last year, there were four seeds losing their openers, so it was a bit more of what you might expect from year-to-year. Will 2026 follow suit or are we looking at another chalky run in round one?
We already have one victim with (9)Kichenok-Krawczyk losing, so who are the others who could join them?
(2)Danilina-Krunic
Maleckova-Skoch is not a great round one draw for a pair that have not played together since Miami. There are some questions here for me as to why Danilina and Krunic played apart during the clay prep if the idea was to play Roland Garros? Perhaps it was to accommodate scheduling, but there will be some question as to how their chemistry comes together. Prior to a shock round one loss in Miami to Jiang-Xu, they were a top of the rankings in that number one spot. They’re still second, just 80 points back of Siniakova-Townsend. Maleckova-Skoch have been superb on clay this season at 15-6, but a lot of that has been done against teams outside of the top tier. They may be overmatched here, but if Danilina-Krunic are going to struggle, this would probably be the spot to catch them.
(3)Mertens-Zhang
I already talked this one up earlier. The three seeds get one of the more dangerous unseeded pairs in Kostyuk-Ruse. With Mertens-Zhang having lost openers three of five times since winning the Australian Open, there’s a realistic shot this one will be very competitive. Three of the last four openers for Mertens-Zhang have gone to super tie breaks (1-2), so this one could be set for going three sets at least. I’d call it about 50/50 given the situation for both.
(8)Muhammad-Stollar
This is just the third match together for these two when they go against Kempen-Klepac in round one. Both of the seeds’ matches thus far have gone to super tie breaks, suggesting there’s a bit of uneven play at times. That could open the door for first timers Kempen-Klepac. The 40-year old German (Klepac) has yet to find with Kempen set to be her sixth partner already during her comeback in 2026. She has been competitive though and Kempen owns a 12-6 mark on clay this year and comes in off a title run in Rabat. I think this team will have a chance in round one.
(10)Mihalikova-Nicholls
Still one of the most up and down pairs around for me. In five clay tournaments this year, they’ve alternated opening losses(3) with a final in La Bisbal and a semifinal in Paris. The big plus is drawing a pair in French wild cards Lemaitre-Rame who have never played together. Lemaitre has done well at 13-6 this year with an ITF title and three other finals. This will be on the bigger sides of upsets, but with a French crowd and French players, perhaps this one gets interesting.
(14)Jiang-Xu
Having lost six of their last seven and going 1-5 on clay, you have to put this pair on the list. They’ll square off against Kalinina-Yastremska who don’t have a great track record (3-5), but all of that action was in 2024. The odds makers are in tune with us here with this match close to a 50-50 call. I don’t think it would be much of an upset, but the unseeded pair definitely has a shot here.
DRAW PREVIEW
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TOP HALF
The first quarter is led by (1)Siniakova-Townsend with (8)Muhammad-Stollar as the highest seed on the other half. Starting in the top half with the top seeds, you have to love the set up. There aren’t any of the unseeded menaces in their section and the seeds who are on the opposite side are (16)Hozumi-Wu. They won their opener to end a four match losing skid and trend of losing openers on clay, which had claimed them in five of six tournaments. They wait to see Rakhimova-Siskova or Kichenok-Ninomiya. Rakhimova-Siskova have only one match to their credit this year, but they did make round three here in 2025 and beat Hsieh-Ostapenko along the way. Kichenok-Ninomiya are just 2-5 this year and 0-3 on clay. They have been pretty competitive though and won the Stuttgart titles last year on clay, so they’re not without a shot. This half seems wide open to get the right to play Siniakova-Townsend who should have minimal trouble advancing to the round of 16. I’d take Kichenok-Ninomiya in that other spot.
In the bottom half of the quarter, (8)Muhammad-Stollar may be lucky to get out of round one as I spelled out earlier. Kempen-Klepac could be a little bit of a sleeper in this section if they score that initial upset. Dart-Panova versus Martins-Sierra may yield another sleeper candidate and I’d put that on Dart-Panova who both have good doubles backgrounds, albeit without a ton of success at this level on clay. This part of the draw looks very open, so perhaps Muhammad-Stollar can get things roling if they avoid the upset? The other part of this half sees (10)Mihalikova-Nicholls against French wild cards Lemaitre-Rame. That may not be the French pair to watch in this part of the draw. Keep that reserved for Jacquemot-Rakotomanga who made the semis in Rouen. All three of their matches went the distance. Really anything but Siniakova-Townsend making the semifinals out of this quarter would be a HUGE shock.
The second quarter is led by (4)Dabrowski-Stefani and (6)Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez. Dabrowski-Stefani rebounded nicely after dropping their Rome opener. They played Strasbourg and won the titles to run their 2026 record to 20-5. This is their second French Open with the pair making the third round back in 2023. (15)Eikeri-Gleason are the other seeds in their half. The 15 seeds have been an under-the-radar duo this swing with a couple semifinals and a final last week in Strasbourg. They lost 7-5, 6-4 to Dabrowski-Stefani in that final, so they’d likely relish a shot at revenge. I don’t have them on upset watch against Alexandrova-Chan, but that could be a tricky one. A pair to watch in this half is Kozyreva-Shymanovich. They’re 11-3 on clay this year and 28-4 on clay since the start of 2025. The question here again is whether they can step up against tougher competition. They could still be ones who present a repeat of Dabrowski-Stefani and Eikeri-Gleason.
In the bottom half, (6)Bucsa-MM are a tough one to predict. Do we get the team that made it all the way to the Rome final or the one that went 1-2 in their other two clay court tune-ups? To me, the trouble spot could be round two where either Eala-Mboko or Fernandez-Shnaider would be waiting. Both singles pairs have some intrigue here and could ruffle some feathers. The issue will be chemistry with neither pairing having played together in the past. (11)Siegemund-Zvonareva are the other seeds in this half. The number elevens have a workable early draw, but haven’t been as consistent as you’d like on clay. This is their third go at the French Open with the other two times seeing them stopped in round one and round two. Keep an eye on another French wild card pair in Ferro-Parry who have some experience together. If anyone stops Siegemund-Zvonareva from round three, they might be the ones.
TOP HALF FORECAST
Is there an unseeded runner in this mix? It’s hard to see it. Siniakova-Townsend really do have a great draw and surely will be keen to get back to a Slam final, which surprisingly did not happen in Australia. Quarter two has some interesting unseeded pairs and I could see at least one crashing the quarters. I’d look to the section with Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez as a higher possibility versus the Dabrowski-Stefani half. I’d look to the French pair in Ferro-Parry or the survivor of that Eala-Mboko/Fernandez-Shnaider match as ones to watch if that happens. All in all though, I do like the higher seeds in this half.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (1)Siniakova-Townsend vs (4)Dabrowski-Stefani
BOTTOM HALF
The third quarter has already seen three of the four seeded pairs move on to round two, led by (5)Ostapenko-Routliffe who got their first win as a team this year. These two can be a threat on clay, remember they won Charleston in 2025. They should be set up for a good shot to get to round three with Aoyama-Liang or Bouzas-Cociarretto up next in round two. Aoyoma-Liang are interesting with that pair having won the titles in Paris in mid-May, which included wins over MIhalikova-Nicholls and Kichenok-Krawczyk. They could be a factor. The seed opposite of that quadrant features (12)Hunter-McNally who rolled in round one and are now 5-0 in their careers together. They’ll be a hard out and that could be a real BANGER-in-waiting with them against Ostapenko-Routliffe. Give me Hunter-McNally in that one, but don’t be surprised of Aoyoma-Liang cause some upheaval in this section.
In the other half, (13)Guo-Mladenovic are into round two, but they are up against one of the biggest unseeded menaces in 2023 French Open champs, Hsieh-Wang. That may serve as somewhat of a de facto decider of who makes the quarters with (3)Mertens-Zhang struggling in the spot opposite of them. The three seeds may be fortunate to survive Kostyuk-Ruse in round one. This quarter definitely has one of the better potentials to see an unseeded pair slip into the semifinals with Hsieh-Wang and Kostyuk-Ruse both providing legit threats to do just that. This quarter looks like one of the more fun ones on tap with every round looking like it could have a marquee matchup.
The final quarter sees 2025 finalists (2)Danilina-Krunic looking to re-establish themselves. It’s weird to say that for a team that’s just points away from being ranked number one. Having not played since Miami though, they will need to be ready to rock from ball one against a tough pair in Maleckova-Skoch. If they get through there, then it’s on. The rest of their path towards getting to a quarterfinal looks pretty good from there. (14)Jiang-Xu are the only other seeeds in their half, so there’s every reason to believe the 2025 runners-up can get it together and make another deep run in Paris.
The top half of the quarter is led by (7)Perez-Schuurs, who are the only seeds left after (9)Kichenok-Krawczyk crashed out on Tuesday. The seven seeds came through round one unscathed and have been fairly consistent during the clay season. They have two quarterfinals and a semifinal in their three tournaments prior to Roland Garros. Round two will be an interesting watch though with either Errani-Tagger or Kenin-Krueger waiting. The bottom half also has some pesky unseeded types who could get through to at least a quarterfinal with Haddad Maia-Samsonova eliminating Kichenok-Krawczyk on Tuesday. Sutjiadi-Tjen are also ones to watch here with that pair tough and tested on clay in the prep tournaments. For me, I think it comes down to them or Haddad Maia-Samsonova if there’s an unseeded sleeper.
BOTTOM HALF FORECAST
This is a more interesting half of the draw for me with plenty of unseeded trouble makers in the mix. Danilina-Krunic may only need to get off with a win early to get back on a roll, but that’s still a question that must be answered. With (3)Mertens-Zhang struggling and (5)Ostapenko-Routliffe a bit of a guess each round, there looks to be a path for plenty of contenders. I’m looking for some upheaval in this half, although Danilina-Krunic getting back to a semifinal or farther would not surprise me in the least. Still, I’m looking for some surprises like Hunter-McNally if it’s a seed or Hsieh-Wang perhaps as the liveliest unseeded menace out there in the 2026 draw.
SEMIFINAL PIX: (12)Hunter-McNally vs Sutjiadi-Tjen
Without a doubt, the top half of this draw may have a lot to say about who gets crowned as this year’s champions. Siniakova-Townsend are tough to pick against, but as we saw in Rome and in Australia to start 2026, they are beatable. I have loved this Dabrowski-Stefani partnership since it was rebooted and it mostly has not disappointed. It also still seeks a marquee result. Could this be that chance? Even though I see some unseeded potential, I do have a harder time seeing one of those pairs getting it done. Still, upsets happen and that’s what drives those unseeded runs to titles. Hsieh-Wang are the easy pick as the likeliest unseeded duo to make some noise with their history in Paris. This figures to be a tale of two halves with the top half perhaps ending in a superb semifinal showdown between two of the top pairs in tennis. And the bottom half? Well, I see upsets, but there’s also a pair in Danilina-Krunic that would certainly not be surprising to see make the final again. It should be a fascinating two weeks.
Dabrowski-Stefani
Hsieh-Wang
Hunter-McNally
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