French Open 2026: Heliovaara and Patten Start Doubles Bid With Straight-Sets Win

Heliovaara/Patten ease into French Open second round

Second seeds Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten opened their 2026 French Open doubles campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nuno Borges and Zhang Zhizhen.

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After reaching the quarterfinals last year, Heliovaara and Patten began their 2026 campaign with a dominant first-round win over a protected-ranking pair...

Second seeds Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Henry Patten of Great Britain cruised through their 2026 French Open opening match, defeating Portugal’s Nuno Borges and China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets.

The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champions made the Roland Garros quarterfinals last year, matching Heliovaara’s best result with his previous partner. Against a pairing that entered via protected ranking, they were never expected to face much trouble as they push for a deeper run this time.

After the first seven games went on serve, Heliovaara and Patten turned up the pressure in game eight. They targeted Borges’ serve to grab the break and move 5-3 ahead, then Patten sealed the set 6-3 with two aces as they held comfortably in the next game.

Borges and Zhang dug in during the second set, holding a nine-minute game three. But when Zhang served at 2-2, Heliovaara and Patten finally broke through. Patten finished off another nine-minute battle with a forehand winner to put the pair up a break.

No.2 seeds Henry Patten & Harri Heliovaara secure their spot in the second round at @rolandgarros ✊#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/202p8ZLZLc

— LTA (@the_LTA) May 28, 2026

The next three games stayed on serve, leaving Zhang to serve and stay alive in the match. Both he and Borges missed forehands under pressure, and a final unforced error from Borges gave the No. 2 seeds the win, 6-3, 6-3.

In the second round, Heliovaara and Patten will take on Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan and Italy’s Mattia Belucci.