Gille to play in French Open Men’s Doubles Championship on Saturday

Published 11:11 pm Thursday, June 8, 2023

PARIS, France – Sander Gille will play for the French Open Men’s Doubles Championship on Saturday!

Gille and doubles partner Joran Vliegen defeated their fourth seeded team of the tournament, as the Belgian duo beat the 12th-seeded team of Andreas Mies and Matwe Middelkoop, 6-4, 7-5, on Thursday in the semifinals on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

Gille/Vliegen, who are playing in their first career Grand Slam final, will take on the No. 4 seed duo of Austin Krajicek (United States) and Ivan Dodig (Croatia) in the championship on Saturday. Krajicek is ranked No. 5 in the ATP Doubles Rankings and Dodig is eighth. French Open coverage will be carried live on NBC from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET. The women’s single championship match will begin at 9 a.m., followed by the men’s doubles championship.

Gille is the first Buccaneer alum to play in a Grand Slam final.

In Thursday’s opening set, the teams held serve, but with the score knotted at 4-4, Gille/Vliegen won the final two points en route to take the opener, 6-4. In the second set, the Belgian duo scored the first three points, before Mies/Middelkoop rallied to win the next three to pull even. From there, the teams held serve, but with the set tied at 5-5, Gille/Vliegen won the last two points to capture the match with the 7-5 set-two victory.

Both teams totaled two aces in the match, while Gille/Vliegen won on their first serve 69 percent of the time (33/48). One of the biggest differences in the match came in unforced errors were Gille/Vliegen committed 12, compared to Mies/Middelkoop finishing with 19.

Mies had won the 2019 and 2020 French Open men’s doubles titles and is ranked No. 29 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, while Middelkoop is ranked No. 23.

Gille, who is ranked No. 41 in ATP Doubles, is coming off a championship run with Vliegen in the 2023 Estoril Open back in April. The duo were the No. 4 seed in the tournament and rattled off four wins to claim the title.

Gille helped guide ETSU to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-12 and was a three-time first team all-ASUN selection. Gille was named ASUN Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 2010. Gille finished his collegiate career with 72 wins in the Blue & Gold.