French Open Mixed Doubles: Goransson/Routliffe Advance After 10-7 Super Tiebreak Win
The unseeded duo recovered from a second-set loss and survived a back-and-forth tiebreak to eliminate Stefani/Arevalo and set up a meeting with French wildcards.
After upsetting the No. 2 seeds in three sets, Goransson and Routliffe will face French wildcards Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Leolia Jeanjean next at Roland Garros...
Sweden’s Andre Goransson and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe pulled off an upset in the opening round of the 2026 French Open Mixed Doubles, defeating second seeds Luisa Stefani and Marcelo Arevalo 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
An upset looked likely early when Goransson and Routliffe went after Stefani’s first service game. Both contributed winners to secure a break in the third game, and the El Salvadorian-Brazilian pairing couldn’t respond. With the rest of the set holding serve, the unseeded duo closed it out 6-3.
The second seeds hit back in the second set, holding serve comfortably and only dropping points sparingly. They finally broke in game eight off Routliffe’s serve, with Stefani’s forehand proving too much for the New Zealander. Two-time French Open men’s doubles champion Arevalo then held to love to close out the set 6-3.
The match went to a 10-point match tiebreak. A double fault from Arevalo gave Goransson and Routliffe the early edge, but they immediately gave it back when Routliffe was forced into an error on her own serve.
The next five points all held serve, leaving the unseeded pair up 5-4. What followed was a chaotic run of five straight breaks of serve. Goransson and Routliffe saw their 7-4 lead cut to 7-6, then pulled ahead again at 8-6.
Stefani and Arevalo managed to hold serve once more to cut the deficit to 9-8, but Goransson closed it out with two solid points on his serve. The unseeded pair sealed the upset 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
They now move on to face French wildcards Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Leolia Jeanjean in the second round.
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