Félix and Alexis Lebrun survive five-set scare in opening doubles clash

Men's doubles world number one duo Alexis Lebrun and Félix Lebrun are through to the last 32 at the 2025 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Doha, Qatar – but only just.

The French brothers found themselves – against all odds – down 7–11, 0–8 early on in their first-round encounter against Spanish pair Daniel Berzosa and Juan Pérez on Sunday (18 May) at the Lusail Sports Arena.

Berzosa and Pérez were visibly gaining confidence with every point they took off the top seeds as they continued to open the gap and lead 2–0 in games.

But finally, Félix and Alexis – the latter of whom only received medical clearance this week to play in the Qatari capital after recovering from a fractured hand – found their groove.

If they looked unrecognisable in the first two sets, they were at their imperious best in the next two to level the match at 2–2.

But Berzosa and Pérez didn't go down without a fight, taking the lead early in the decider at 4–2 before the Lebrun brothers finally hit the front and didn't look back.

The Lebruns won 3–2 (7–11, 5–11, 11–4, 11–4, 11–7) and will play Benyamin Faraji and Amirmahdi Keshavarzi of Islamic Republic of Iran in the next round.

"They played really well, they attacked us from the start of the match," Félix Lebrun said.

"The first set wasn't great from us, but in the second, they played very well, and then we managed to turn the match around. That's the most important thing."

Both brothers reached the second round of the singles a day earlier on Saturday. They are in the same section of the draw and could meet in the last 16.

More to follow.

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