India’s campaign in the men’s doubles at the French Open 2025 took a hit on Saturday as N Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela bowed out in the second round.
The Indo-Mexican duo fell to the experienced Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
The match, held on Court 7, lasted just under an hour and a half, with the fourth-seeded Italians showing clinical efficiency. Bolelli and Vavassori capitalized on two of the nine break-point chances they created, while Balaji and Reyes-Varela were unable to generate a single break opportunity. The Italians also hit 18 winners compared to their opponents’ 18 unforced errors-underscoring their dominance throughout the encounter.
Balaji and Reyes-Varela had made a solid start in the tournament but struggled to match the consistency and firepower of the seeded Italian pair in their second-round contest. With this defeat, Balaji’s run at Roland Garros comes to an end.
Meanwhile, there was better news for Indian fans elsewhere. Veteran Rohan Bopanna, partnering Czech player Adam Pavlásek, progressed to the third round after a hard-fought win over France’s Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia. The Indo-Czech duo overcame a first-set deficit to win 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-2 in a two-hour, ten-minute battle.
Yuki Bhambri also kept Indian hopes alive by moving into the third round alongside American partner Robert Galloway. They pulled off an impressive upset over the seventh-seeded team of Nikola Mektić and Michael Venus, rallying from a set down to win 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7), 6-3 in two hours and 32 minutes.
Bopanna and Pavlásek will next take on Henry Patten (UK) and Harri Heliövaara (Finland), while Bhambri and Galloway are set to face the American pair of Christian Harrison and Evan King, who cruised through their second-round match with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Manuel Guinard and Romain Arneodo.
As the tournament heads into the deeper rounds, India’s attention now turns to the seasoned Bopanna and a resurgent Bhambri as they aim to continue their promising runs in Paris.