French Open: Sriram Balaji-Marcelo Demoliner advance to men’s doubles quarterfinals

India’s N. Sriram Balaji and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner continued their impressive run at the French Open, upsetting sixth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany to reach the men’s doubles quarterfinals on Monday.

The Indo-Brazilian pair produced a composed performance to secure a 7-5, 6-4 victory in an hour and 25 minutes on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The win marked their third straight triumph at the tournament and underlined their growing confidence as a team.

Balaji and Demoliner will now face the formidable second-seeded duo of Finn Harri Heliovaar and Britain’s Henry Patten for a place in the semi-finals.

A quarter-final appearance will cap off a strong week for Balaji and Demoliner, who had earlier recorded a convincing second-round win over Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner. The pair needed just one hour and 27 minutes to seal a 7-5, 6-2 win and book their place in the last 16.

While Balaji’s campaign picked up steam, it was the end for Yuki Bhambri and New Zealand’s Michael Venus in the men’s doubles. The Indian-New Zealand duo suffered a 3-6, 4-6 defeat in the second round against the experienced Italian combination of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.

Bhambri and Venus started their campaign strongly, defeating Argentina’s Francisco Cerundola and Mariano Kestelboim 7-5, 6-2 in the opening round. However, Bhambri remains alive in the tournament after advancing in the mixed doubles alongside partner Alexandra Panova.

In the junior events, Arnav Paparkar advanced to the boys’ singles round of 16 with a solid 6-2, 6-4 win over 15th seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Chinese Taipei. Paparkar will also feature in the boys’ doubles competition, where he will partner Thailand’s Kunananu Pantaratorna against Great Britain’s Mark Ceban and Russia’s Kirill Filaretov.

Elsewhere, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi was set to face eighth seed Maria Makarova of Russia in the second round of the girls’ singles as the Indians’ interest in Roland Garros continued despite several draws.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

1 Jun 2026 19:21 IST