By India Today Sports Desk: India’s Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni were eliminated from the French Open 2023 on Friday after losing to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Santiago Gonzalez in the second round of men’s doubles at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.
The unseeded Indian tennis duo lost 4-6, 5-7 in one hour and 38 minutes to ninth seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico.
Edouard Roger-Vasselin is a former French Open men’s doubles winner, while Santiago Gonzalez is placed 20th in the ATP doubles rankings.
Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, rated 74th and 75th in the ATP doubles rankings, dominated the first game and broke their higher-ranked opponents in the second.
The Indian duo, however, were unable to maintain their momentum and were broken twice by Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Santiago Gonzalez, who went on to take a 1-0 lead.
Roger-Vasselin and Gonzalez took advantage of the momentum in the first and fifth games. Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni broke the French-Mexican combo again to tie the match at 5-5.
The two Indian tennis players, on the other hand, were pushed back and lost the next two games to exit the Grand Slam in the second round.
Earlier in the tournament, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni won their first match as a team, defeating the local wildcard pairing of Arthur Rinderknech and Enzo Couacaud 6-3, 6-2.
Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni were eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open 2023 after entering as wildcards.
The defeat effectively ended India’s challenge in the French Open. Earlier on Wednesday, the Indo-Australian tandem of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, as well as the Indian duo of N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, were both eliminated in the first round.
Ankita Raina, the only Indian player to compete in the singles category, was eliminated in the qualifying rounds.