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The French Open doubles rules are a little different from other competitions held at Roland Garros. There are differences concerning the number of sets played, how the final set is played out, and a few other things too. Of course, my intention today is to explain these Roland Garros doubles rules to you. This way, you’ll go into the event knowing exactly what to expect when viewing any of the doubles matches for their respective events.
I will also explain the format of the doubles events just to give you a complete overview of what’s coming up for the individual Roland Garros doubles tournaments. So – ready to learn about these rules and formats? Let’s begin.
How Many Sets French Open Doubles – Men’s and Women’s Doubles
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The first question that many fans have surrounding Roland Garros is the number of sets involved. After all, this is different for men’s and women’s singles events, with the men playing best of five while the women will play best of three. So as you may expect, there is always confusion associated with how many sets French Open doubles events use. On that note, allow me to remove any confusion right now.
Both the men’s and women’s doubles events will be played using the best-of-three-set format. This means that a pair must win two sets to win the match. And if the match goes to one set all, a full set will be played. Should the final set reach 6-6 in games, however, a match tie-break will then be played to decide the match. This is a tie-break to 10 points, which is a rule that all four Grand Slams have now adopted for both singles and doubles events.
Just to clarify, if any of the other two sets reach 6-6 in games, a standard tie-break is played to 7 points. A pair must win by two clear points if the tie-break reaches 6-6 too, which holds true for regular tie-breaks and for the match tie-break.
How Many Sets Roland Garros – Mixed Doubles
This is where the doubles events break apart in terms of how many sets they play. While yes, the same rule of the ‘best of three’ format is used for mixed doubles, it works differently. The matches are played as a best of three, only the third and final set uses a match tie-break system to decide the winner. This means that a ‘standard set’ is not played. Instead, the match goes straight into the match tie-break, which goes to 10 points, as referenced previously.
Therefore, there is slightly more pressure involved in mixed doubles if the match is split after the first two sets. Of course, a match tie-break doesn’t allow much room for error. So the competitors need to be zoned in from the first point to snatch a win in the third set breaker.
Roland Garros Doubles Rules – The Formats Explained
Now that we’ve covered how many sets Roland Garros doubles competitions play, as well as how the third set is contested, let’s move on. As I promised at the very beginning, I will now cover the respective formats for each of the three doubles events mentioned previously. This way, you’ll know exactly what the French Open doubles rules are for sets played and tie-breaks, and you’ll know what’s coming from the draw.
Men’s & Women’s Doubles Formats
For the men’s and women’s doubles events, both draws consist of 64 pairs. This means that in total, these draws contain 128 individual players, which is the same as the main draw for each of the singles events. However, since the total number of spots in the draw is halved for doubles, this means that a pair needs to win six matches to win the tournament. In singles, this number is seven matches.
Adding to that, both of the doubles competitions operate as a knockout tournament. So if any pair loses, they are out. Of course, if a pair wins, they advance to the next round.
Mixed Doubles Formats
The actual structure of the mixed doubles draw is identical to the men’s and women’s doubles draw. By this, I mean that the tournament advances by process of elimination, and any pair that loses is out of the competition. However, the number of players is reduced for mixed doubles. Specifically, for the 2023 Roland Garros event, the mixed doubles draw will have 32 teams involved.
This creates a combined total of 64 individual players, and it means that a pair must win five matches in a row to win the tournament.
French Open Doubles Rules – FAQs
When will the doubles competitions begin?
As per the provisional French Open schedule, the men’s doubles will begin on Tuesday, May 30th. The women’s and mixed doubles will then begin on Wednesday, May 31st.
When are the finals played for these doubles events?
The final of the mixed doubles will be played on Thursday, June 8th. As for the men’s and women’s doubles finals, these are scheduled for June 10th and June 11th, respectively.
Can I watch the French Open doubles tournaments?
Of course. You can access French Open TV live streaming through Discovery+ to watch these events unfold.
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