India’s Yuki Bhambri, N Sriram Balaji advance to second round at French Open 2026

PARIS: India’s Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji advanced to the second round of the men’s doubles event at the French Open on Tuesday.

Bhambri, partnering New Zealand’s Michael Venus, defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Kestelboim 7-5, 6-2 to move into the next round at Roland-Garros. On the other hand, N Sriram Balaji, partnering Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner, defeated Germany’s Constantin Frantzen and the Netherlands’ Robin Haase 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the second round, according to Olympics.com.

In the match between Bhambri-Venus and Cerundolo-Kestelboim, the opening set stayed on serve until the crucial 11th game, when Bhambri and Venus secured a key break against the Argentine pair. They then held serve in the next game to take the first set.

Carrying that momentum into the second set, Bhambri and Venus broke their opponents early again and comfortably closed out the match. Bhambri, currently India’s top-ranked men’s doubles player, is also competing in the mixed doubles event at the French Open. He will team up with Alexandra Panova to face the pair of David Pel and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok in the opening round on Thursday.

In the other match, Balaji and Demoliner made a strong start, breaking Frantzen and Haase early in the third game to take control of the opening set. The Indo-Brazilian duo then earned a second break in the ninth game, converting their third set point to clinch the set advantage.

Frantzen and Haase fought back in the second set, breaking Balaji and Demoliner in the seventh game before holding their service games to level the match and force a deciding set. However, they slipped early in the final set, losing serve in the second game, which allowed Balaji and Demoliner to capitalise and close out the match, sealing their place in the second round. (ANI)