Bhambri and Balaji win French Open men’s doubles

India’s Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji advanced to the second round of the men’s doubles at the 2026 French Open after registering victory over their partners in Paris on Tuesday. New Zealand’s Bhambri and Michael Venus beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Kestelboim 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes to start their Roland Garros campaign on a positive note.

The first set remained even, with both pairs holding serve comfortably through the opening 10 games. But Bhambri and Venus found a breakthrough at a crucial stage, breaking the Argentine pair in the 11th game before serving out the set to take an early advantage.

French Open Day 3: Update

The India-New Zealand combination carried the momentum into the second set, quickly taking control of the match with an early break of serve. Bhambri and Venus looked much more composed from the baseline and at the net as the set progressed, allowing Cerundola and Kestelboim no way back into the match.

A second break in the latter stages of the set effectively ended the Argentinian duo’s resistance as Bhambri and Venus finished commandingly to win in straight sets.

Bhambri, currently the highest-ranked Indian player in men’s doubles, is also set to feature in mixed doubles at the French Open. In Wednesday’s opening round, she will face Alexandra Panova against David Pel of the Netherlands and Ukraine’s Lyudmila Kichenok.

Meanwhile, Paris 2024 Olympian N Sriram Balaji and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner were stretched to three sets before overcoming Robin Haas of the Netherlands and Germany’s Constantin Frantzen 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 45 minutes.

Balaji and Demoliner started the match confidently and broke serve early in the third game of the opening set to seize the initiative. The Indian-Brazilian pair continued to pressure their opponent’s serve and earned another break in the ninth game to close out the first set 6-3.

Haase and Frantzen responded strongly in the second set, increasing the intensity from the baseline. The Dutch-German pair earned a crucial break in the seventh game before consistently holding serve to level the match and force a deciding set.

Momentum briefly appeared to shift in favor of Haase and Frantzen, but Balaji and Demoliner took control early in the third set with another timely break of serve in the second game.

From there, the Indian-Brazilian duo remained composed on serve and did not allow their opponents any further openings, eventually closing out the match to secure their place in the second round.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

26 May 2026 23:50 IST