“We Always Felt We Were in Control” — Yuki Bhambri on Saving Two Set Points En Route to Round 2 at Roland Garros

Two set points saved, a 6-2 second set to seal the match, and a place in the Roland Garros Doubles second round — Yuki Bhambri broke it all down with Prateek Chachra from Indian Tennis Daily, in a conversation that touched on clay, confidence, and what’s coming next.

Prateek: Yuki, congratulations. Your forehand and movement were completely on fire today. What are your thoughts on the match?

Yuki: Yeah, good to get through. First round of a Grand Slam is always very — well, any level match — but especially at a Grand Slam, it’s so important to all the players competing here. You’re a little bit nervous going in, especially in a match where you’re sort of expected to win, going in as a favourite. Great to come through and win in two sets. The first set was definitely a bit tricky, got quite close towards the end of it, so happy to come out with the win.

Prateek: That was a straight-set win, and speaking of the first set — you were facing two set points at 5-4. What was going through your mind at that moment, and how did you push through?

Yuki: I think Michael served really well on those two points, and we sort of always felt we were in control of the situation, even though we were down 2 set points. A lot of the balls were on our rackets, on our hands — so that was an extra reminder to keep being aggressive and trusting our strokes. As the match kept progressing, we got better and better and felt more comfortable and confident, which helped us get the win.

Prateek: In the next round you could face Bolelli and Vavassori — you almost beat them in Rome, and they went on to win the title there. How do you approach that match, and does it help that they won’t have the Rome crowd behind them here?

Yuki: Hopefully. They were quite confident in that match, and obviously they’re going to be confident coming off winning the tournament. I thought we were playing well too and that one slipped, so it’s going to be a tough match. They’ve had quite a good season — they’ve won two Masters titles now — and they’re probably going to secure a top-eight position as well. So we’re going to go out there and fight again and hopefully come out on the winning side this time.

Prateek: Shifting to your game in general — clay wasn’t your strongest surface when you were playing singles. How do you evaluate your doubles game on clay versus other surfaces?

Yuki: It’s just about adjusting. You get to play all these events coming into the French Open, which gives you time to adapt — getting used to the conditions, changing the way you go about playing a little bit. It is one of the toughest surfaces to play tennis on, something you can’t avoid. I think I’ve been getting better on it this season. We’re coming towards the end of the clay swing now and progressing well. Both me and Michael have made good strides, gone from strength to strength — it’s just about finishing strong.

Prateek: Any last words for the Indian Tennis Daily fans rooting for you?

Yuki: It’s fantastic — you come to these tournaments and there’s great support, so many Indians come and watch, which is incredible. Indian tennis is getting great coverage now, not just for the French Open but for the junior players, the upcoming players, the women playing singles all over the world. There’s so much to read about all of them. Fantastic stuff by everyone, really great to see.

The second round awaits — whether it’s fifth seeds Bolelli and Vavassori or the Duckworth/Trungelliti combination, Bhambri and Venus will take confidence from a performance that grew stronger as the match progressed. Either way, on today’s evidence, they will be a difficult pair to get past.