Roland Garros 2026: Henry Patten & Harri Heliovaara sail through to men’s doubles semi-final
• 2 minute read
Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara are Roland Garros men’s doubles semi-finalists for the first time in their careers after a straight sets quarter-final victory.
The second seeds were in fine form to defeat N.Sriram Balaji and Marcelo Demoliner 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes.
They continue their bid for a third Grand Slam title to add to their Australian Open and Wimbledon trophies with a semi-final against France's Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
They are currently the No.1 team in the ATP Doubles Race this season, having won four titles and now extending their winning record to 29-5 on the year.
It was a dominant display from Patten and Heliovaara – hitting 44 winners to their opponents’ 18 across the match.
After a solid start from both pairs, the reigning ATP Finals champions quickly started to assert the pressure on their Indian, Brazilian opponents.
Demoliner executed a perfect drop volley to save a break point on serve at 4-3 but it wasn’t enough to hold off the two-time Grand Slam champions.
Patten fired an acute angled backhand winner to set up their second break point of the set, before the Brazilian fired a volley long to give the British, Finnish duo a two game lead.
The British No.2 held with ease to close out the set and showed great touch on a half volley to break at 1-1 in the second.
Patten and Heliovaara had a 5-2 lead in the second set and two match points on Heliovaara’s serve, only to suffer their second break of the tournament.
However, on the second time of asking, Patten kept his nerve with a comfortable hold to love – seeing them through to the final four.
With just two matches between them and the title, Patten is looking to become the first British men’s doubles champion at Roland Garros in the Open Era.
Last year, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury came up just short in the final against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who are the top seeds again in 2026.
