Indian player N. Sriram Balaji and his Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner pulled off a surprising victory at the French Open by defeating sixth-seeded Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz, securing a spot in the men’s doubles quarterfinals at Stade Roland Garros. The duo displayed a composed performance, winning 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes on the clay court, marking their first entry into a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
This win marked their third consecutive victory in the tournament, highlighting their growing synergy as a team. Balaji and Demoliner had a strong week, previously securing a convincing second-round win over Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner with a score of 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 27 minutes.
Despite this success, there were disappointments for India in the men’s doubles as Yuki Bhambri and New Zealand’s Michael Venus suffered a defeat in the second round to the experienced Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, with a score of 3-6, 4-6. Bhambri and Venus had a strong start, winning their opening round against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Kestelboim with a score of 7-5, 6-2.
In the mixed doubles category, Yuki Bhambri and Russia’s Alexandra Panova faced a tough loss in the second round, falling 1-6, 3-6 to last year’s semifinalists Neal Skupski (GB) and Desirae Krawczyk of the USA.
In the junior competition, Arnav Paparkar continued his successful streak by advancing to the boys’ singles Round of 16 with a dominant 6-2, 6-4 victory over 15th seed Kuan-Shou Chen from Chinese Taipei. Paparkar will also participate in the boys’ doubles event alongside Thailand’s Kunanan Pantaratorn, facing Great Britain’s Mark Ceban and Russia’s Kirill Filaretov.
