French Open 2026: Pearly-Thinaah Squander One-Game Lead but Missed Title

Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah’s bid to win back-to-back World Tour titles for the first time ended in defeat in the French Open final today. Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto, the defending champions, beat them 21-10, 17-21, 16-21 at Arena Grand Paris.

The Malaysian world No. 4 pair lost to the world No. 3 pair in 63 minutes. They had won the Denmark Open last week.

Pearly-Thinaah began in dominant fashion, taking the first game 21-10 and looking on course for the title. The second seeds came out firing in the opening game but lost their rhythm in the second.

Fukushima-Matsumoto changed the pace of the match and took the second game 21-17 to level it. The decider stayed close before the Japanese pair used their chances to close out a 21-16 win.

Thinaah said afterwards that the match turned in the second game, when the Japanese changed their strategy and put the Malaysians under pressure, which gave them a comfortable lead. She admitted the pair had let the final slip.

The Japanese pair have the edge in the rivalry. It was Pearly-Thinaah’s sixth defeat in 11 meetings against Fukushima-Matsumoto. The rivalry has been intense since they began playing each other in 2024.

The defeat denied the pair a second French Open title after their win in 2022, as well as a third title of the season following the Indonesia Masters in January and the Denmark Open last week. Pearly-Thinaah are now the only Malaysian women’s doubles pair to have reached the French Open final twice.

Their route to the final was strong. They beat Türkiye’s Bengisu Ercetin-Nazlican Inci 21-11, 21-15 in the Round of 32, and in the semi-finals beat Japan’s third seeds Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-17, 22-20.

Credit Photo : MSN