Marcel Granollers · Biography

Marcel Granollers Pujol was born on 12 April 1986 in Barcelona. He turned professional in 2003 and took several years to establish himself on the ATP Tour, where he built a two-part career: first as a singles player who won titles and reached the world's top 20, and later as a doubles specialist who climbed to the top of the rankings.

Early singles titles

His first ATP title came in 2008 on the clay of Houston. It was a big step for a player who had until then spent his time in Challenger events and qualifying draws. In 2011 he added two more trophies on very different surfaces: Gstaad, also on clay, and Valencia, on indoor hard courts. His fourth and final singles title came in 2013, again on clay, in Kitzbühel.

In between he reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 on 23 July 2012. He was a solid baseliner, at home on clay, who over the years made more and more of his volleying and his reading of play at the net, two strengths that would shape the second half of his career.

Marc López and the ATP Finals

The year 2012 was his breakthrough in doubles. With Marc López he won the Rome Masters 1000 and, in November, became 2012 ATP Finals champion in London, the event that brings together the season's best eight teams. The Catalan pair stayed among the elite and in 2014 played two Grand Slam finals, at Roland Garros and the US Open. They lost both, but those finals showed Granollers belonged in the decisive matches of the biggest events.

Horacio Zeballos and world No. 1

Since 2019 his regular partner has been Argentina's Horacio Zeballos. With him and with other partners he collected Masters 1000 titles: Paris in 2018, Montreal in 2019, Rome in 2020, Madrid and Cincinnati in 2021, Shanghai in 2023, and Rome and Montreal in 2024. The pair also reached two Wimbledon finals, in 2021 and 2023, finishing runners-up both times.

That consistency was rewarded in the rankings. On 6 May 2024 Granollers became world No. 1 in doubles, shortly after turning 38 and more than two decades after turning professional. He has won 33 ATP doubles titles in all.

Grand Slam titles with Zeballos

After losing three major finals together, Granollers and Zeballos won Roland Garros in 2025, their first Grand Slam as a team. Later that year they added the 2025 US Open. In 2026 they returned to Paris as top seeds and defended their title, beating Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten 6-4, 6-2 in the final on 6 June without dropping a set all tournament. It was the pair's third Grand Slam title and the first successful defence of the Roland Garros men's doubles crown since 2020.

Davis Cup and the Olympics

Granollers was a regular in the Spain team for many years. He was part of the squads that won the Davis Cup in 2008, 2011 and 2019, often as the doubles specialist, a role he kept in the ties that followed. At the Paris 2024 Olympics he played men's doubles with Pablo Carreño, losing in the second round, and mixed doubles with Sara Sorribes, going out in the first.

Playing style

In singles his foundation was clay, where he won three of his four titles with a patient baseline game. In doubles he stands out for his positioning at the net, his volleys and the experience to pick the moment to poach. The partnership with Zeballos pairs the Argentine's left-handed serve with the Spaniard's reading of the game, a formula that brought them back-to-back Roland Garros titles in 2025 and 2026.