New York. India’s doubles players N Sriram Balaji and Yuki Bhambri have won their first round matches with their respective partners in the US Open men’s doubles category. Balaji and Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi defeated New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Mexico’s Miguel Reyes Varela 5-7, 6-1, 7-6. A good performance in the US Open will boost the confidence of Balaji, who is India’s main doubles player, before the Davis Cup match against Sweden.
He said after the victory, “It was a close match. Especially my partner and Mickey were former partners, so it was not so easy for him mentally. We lost the first set in which we missed many chances to score points. We performed strongly in the last set.” Yuki and France’s Albano Olivetti defeated local wild card holders Ryan Segerman and Patrick T 6-3, 6-4. Now they will face Austin Krajicek of America and Jean Julien Roger of Netherlands. Yuki said, “It was a great performance. Playing against American players in their home slam can be tricky but once we took the lead, we kept playing continuously.”