India’s Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji advanced to the second round of the men’s doubles with their respective partners at the French Open on Tuesday. Bhambri and New Zealand’s Michael Venus registered a dominant win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Kestelboim 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes.
The opening set was closely fought, with both pairs holding serve comfortably for most of it. Bhambri and Venus finally got the crucial break in the 11th game and then served out the set to take the lead.
They carried that momentum into the second set and took control early with another break of serve. Another break later in the set ended any hopes of a comeback as Bhambri and Venus sealed an impressive straight-sets victory.
Bhambri, who is currently India’s top-ranked men’s doubles player, will also compete in the mixed doubles event at the French Open. He and his partner Alexandra Panova will face Dutch player David Pel and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok in the first round on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Paris 2024 Olympian N Sriram Balaji and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner had to work much harder for their win. The pair defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Germany’s Constantin Frantzen 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in a match lasting one hour and 45 minutes.
Balaji and Demoliner started strongly by breaking serve early in the first set. They continued to put pressure on their opponents and earned another break late in the set to win it 6-3.
Haase and Frantzen fought back well in the second set, getting a key break in the seventh game before holding serve to level the match.
The momentum briefly shifted towards the Dutch-German pair, but Balaji and Demoliner regained control early in the deciding set with another important break of serve.
From there, the Indo-Brazilian duo stayed calm on serve and did not allow their opponents another chance, eventually securing victory and a place in the second round.
