Marcel Granollers Finally Claims His Grand Slam

Marcel Granollers has finally achieved his long-sought Grand Slam after years of waiting. The Catalan, a month after turning 39, won Roland Garros with Horacio Zeballos by defeating the British duo Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury (6-0, 6-7 (5), 7-5), thus overcoming the major gap in his career.

Granollers, who sidelined his singles career to focus on doubles, celebrated victory in his sixth Grand Slam final. He had lost the previous five, two with Marc López and the last three with Zeballos, with whom he has undoubtedly formed the best partnership of his sporting career, winning seven Masters 1000 titles and reaching world number one a year ago.

At 39 and with Zeballos already over 40, the opportunities for the Spanish-Argentine pair were dwindling until this Roland Garros finally rewarded one of the best duos in history that had never won a Grand Slam. Until this Saturday.

After a flawless first set, with the challenge of delivering a 'bagel' in doubles, Granollers and Zeballos faced past demons when they squandered five break points in the second set and lost it in the tiebreak. In that set, more than half the title slipped away, and the British took the lead with an early break in the third. Roland Garros seemed distant, but Zeballos and Granollers broke back, saved three more break points, and with 6-5 and three match points in their favour, Skupski's volley hit the net, sending the title to Spain and Argentina.

In tears, the two doubles players embraced. Flags of Spain and Argentina waved in the stands, and Zeballos held his head in disbelief, his outfit covered in clay after diving to the ground. Granollers looked towards his box, where his family was, as if to say "finally." Thus ended the wait for one of Spain's greatest doubles players, who can now look in the mirror and see a Grand Slam champion.