"Root Element Missing: XML Exception" when trying to load data from XML file

Hey Unity Forums! I am trying to create a saving system for my test game in Unity, but I keep on getting this error whenever I try and load the data from the XML file:

 XmlException: Root element is missing.
 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw (System.Exception e) (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowWithoutLineInfo (System.String res) (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseDocumentContent () (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read () (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.XmlTextReader.Read () (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.XmlReader.MoveToContent () (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationReaderGameData.Read3_GameData () (at <41673fd343b24352b82942feb35ab8c7>:0)
 System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Reflection.BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at <1f0c1ef1ad524c38bbc5536809c46b48>:0)
 Rethrow as InvalidOperationException: There is an error in XML document (0, 0).
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize (System.Xml.XmlReader xmlReader, System.String encodingStyle, System.Xml.Serialization.XmlDeserializationEvents events) (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize (System.Xml.XmlReader xmlReader, System.String encodingStyle) (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer.Deserialize (System.IO.Stream stream) (at <f9ec74c9799148aaa919695e2037e193>:0)
 DataManagement.LoadData () (at Assets/Scripts/Persistence/DataManagement.cs:60)
 LoadGameMenu+<>c__DisplayClass2_0.<Start>b__0 () (at Assets/Scripts/UI/Main Menu/LoadGameMenu.cs:29)
 UnityEngine.Events.InvokableCall.Invoke () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Runtime/Export/UnityEvent/UnityEvent.cs:166)
 UnityEngine.Events.UnityEvent.Invoke () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Runtime/Export/UnityEvent/UnityEvent/UnityEvent_0.cs:58)
 UnityEngine.UI.Button.Press () (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Extensions/guisystem/UnityEngine.UI/UI/Core/Button.cs:66)
 UnityEngine.UI.Button.OnPointerClick (UnityEngine.EventSystems.PointerEventData eventData) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Extensions/guisystem/UnityEngine.UI/UI/Core/Button.cs:108)
 UnityEngine.EventSystems.ExecuteEvents.Execute (UnityEngine.EventSystems.IPointerClickHandler handler, UnityEngine.EventSystems.BaseEventData eventData) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Extensions/guisystem/UnityEngine.UI/EventSystem/ExecuteEvents.cs:50)
 UnityEngine.EventSystems.ExecuteEvents.Execute[T] (UnityEngine.GameObject target, UnityEngine.EventSystems.BaseEventData eventData, UnityEngine.EventSystems.ExecuteEvents+EventFunction`1[T1] functor) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Extensions/guisystem/UnityEngine.UI/EventSystem/ExecuteEvents.cs:261)
 UnityEngine.EventSystems.EventSystem:Update()
 

This is the DataManagement Class:

 using UnityEngine;
 
 using System.IO;
 using System.Xml.Serialization;
 
 public class DataManagement : MonoBehaviour
 {
     public static DataManagement dataManagement;
     public static string saveName;
 
     private string savesDirectory;
 
     private void Awake()
     {
         if (dataManagement == null)
         {
             DontDestroyOnLoad(gameObject);
             dataManagement = this;
         }
         else if (dataManagement != this)
         {
             Destroy(gameObject);
         }
 
         savesDirectory = Path.Combine(Application.persistentDataPath, "saves");
         
         if (!Directory.Exists(savesDirectory))
             Directory.CreateDirectory(savesDirectory);
     }
 
     public void SaveData(int playerLives, string currentLevel, Checkpoint lastCheckpoint)
     {
         var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(GameData));
 
         var data = new GameData();
 
         data.playerLives = playerLives;
         data.currentLevel = currentLevel;
 
         data.checkpointX = lastCheckpoint.transform.position.x;
         data.checkpointY = lastCheckpoint.transform.position.y;
         data.checkpointZ = lastCheckpoint.transform.position.z;
 
         using (var stream = new FileStream(Path.Combine(savesDirectory, saveName + ".xml"), FileMode.Create))
         {
             serializer.Serialize(stream, data);
         }
     }
 
     public GameData LoadData()
     {
         string loadedFile = Path.Combine(savesDirectory, saveName + ".xml");
 
         if (File.Exists(loadedFile))
         {
             var serializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(GameData));
             using (var stream = new FileStream(Path.Combine(savesDirectory, saveName + ".xml"), FileMode.Create))
             {
                 return serializer.Deserialize(stream) as GameData;
             }
         }
 
         throw new FileNotFoundException();
     }
 }
 
 public class GameData
 {
     public int playerLives;
     public string currentLevel;
 
     public float checkpointX;
     public float checkpointY;
     public float checkpointZ;
 }
 

And here is the Test.xml file generated by the code:

 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 <GameData xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
   <playerLives>3</playerLives>
   <currentLevel>Level 1</currentLevel>
   <checkpointX>-6.28</checkpointX>
   <checkpointY>-0.43</checkpointY>
   <checkpointZ>4.046777</checkpointZ>
 </GameData>

Thanks for the help!