India’s Yuki Bhambri and French partner Albano Olivetti caused a big upset at the US Open on Friday, knocking out 15th seeds Austin Krajicek/ Jean-Julien Rojer in the second round of the men’s doubles event.
Bhambri/ Olivetti fought back after dropping the first set 4-6 to win the second set 6-3 and force a decider. Krajicek/ Rojer also broke in the eighth game to lead 5-3 in the final set before Bhambri/ Olivetti fought back once again to win four games on the trot and complete the 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win in just over two hours.
The Indo-French duo will face off against either top seeds Marcel Granollers/ Horacio Zeballos or Alexander Erier/ Matwe Middelkoop in the last 16. This result equals Bhambri’s best performance in a Grand Slam doubles event. He also reached the third round of the Australian Open doubles event in 2014.
Bopanna wins men’s doubles and mixed doubles matches at the US Open
Meanwhile, second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matt Ebden also advanced to the third round on Friday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Roberto Carballes Baena/ Federico Coria. The Indo-Australian duo reached the final last year and won the Australian Open in January this year. They will next face 16th seeds Andres Molteni/ Maximo Gonzalez for a spot in the quarter-finals.
It was a good day for Bopanna in New York as he also won his first-round mixed doubles match with Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi. The eighth seeds defeated Tim Putz/ Demi Schuurs 7-6, 7-6 to advance to the last 16 where they will face John Peers/ Katerina Sinaikova on Saturday.
There was some disappointment for Indian fans with the Indo-Argentine duo Sriram Balaji/ Guido Andreozzi falling in the second round. Balaji/ Andreozzi were defeated 6-7, 4-6 by eighth seeds Neal Skupski/ Michael Venus.
In the boys singles qualifying draw, India’s Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar fell in the final round to American wildcard Keaton Hance 5-7, 2-6.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Haresh Ramchandani
