Tennis
US Open: Sriram Balaji wins on debut, Yuki Bhambri also enters second round
With Bhambri and Balaji in the second round with their partners, Rohan Bopanna is yet to start his campaign at US Open 2024.
Sriram Balaji in action at the first match of the Davis Cup Group-1 tie against Sweden. (File Photo: ATP)
Indian tennis players had a great start at the US Open with N Sriram Balaji and Yuki Bhambri moved to the second round of the men's doubles with their respective partners on Thursday.
Coming on the back of a disastrous Olympic campaign where he lost in the first round with his partner Rohan Bopanna, Balaji partnered with Guido Andreozzi of Argentina for the US Open.
The pair overcame a one-set deficit to beat New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and Mexico's Miguel Reyes-Varela 5-7 6-1 7-6 (12-6) in a close contest that lasted two hours and 36 minutes.
Balaji had impressed at the French Open too where he and Reyes-Varela had stretched Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in a gruelling contest on red clay.
A good run at the US Open before the Davis Cup tie against Sweden will be ideal preparation for Balaji, who will enter the rubber as the country's main doubles player.
In the other men's doubles match Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti also advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win over local wildcards Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac.
They will now take on the American-Dutch combination of Austin Krajicek and Jean-Julien Rojer in the second round.
Second seeds Bopanna and Ebden will open their campaign on Thursday.
