On a bustling Saturday night in New York, the 2025 US Open men’s doubles draw witnessed a flurry of emotions for Indian tennis fans. While the spotlight shone brightly on Yuki Bhambri and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus, who powered into the second round with a dazzling display, other Indian hopefuls saw their campaigns cut short in hard-fought opening matches. The action on the courts at Flushing Meadows offered up drama, dominance, and a few heartbreaks—just what you’d expect from tennis at its grandest stage.
Bhambri and Venus, seeded 14th, wasted no time in asserting their authority over the American wildcards Marcos Giron and Learner Tien. The Indo-Kiwi duo stormed through the first set without conceding a single game, racing to a 6-0 lead in barely 20 minutes. The match, originally scheduled for Court 17 but moved to the Grandstand, played out before an enthusiastic home crowd rooting for the locals. Yet, it was Bhambri and Venus who had the crowd gasping with their relentless shot-making and seamless teamwork.
Venus, setting the tone with a confident hold in the opening game, quickly saw his efforts rewarded as Giron was broken in the next. Tien’s serve soon followed suit, and by the time Giron was broken again, the set was all but over. The opening stanza ended with Tien netting a volley on set point, sealing a bagel for the visitors. The Americans, to their credit, managed to break the drought with a service hold in the second game of the next set, drawing loud cheers from the crowd. But the brief respite was short-lived.
Bhambri and Venus broke Tien again two games later, grabbing a lead they never relinquished. The Americans saved a match point at 2-5 when Bhambri missed a return, but the Indian served out the match in the following game, finishing with a crisp Venus volley at the net. The final score: a dominant 6-0, 6-3 victory in just over an hour, with the 14th seeds never facing a break point and losing only three games in the entire contest.
Reflecting on the match, Venus highlighted the challenges of facing unfamiliar opponents. “To play our first match of the tournament on this court in the evening, it’s pretty special, and we were excited to get out here,” Venus said in his on-court interview. “We knew it was going to be a tricky match. These guys are great ball strikers, and we watch them play singles all the time. We weren’t able to see any footage of them playing doubles together, so we weren’t really sure what to expect. But we’re really happy with our performance and looking forward to the next one.”
With this commanding win, Bhambri and Venus have firmly established themselves as a pair to watch in the men’s doubles draw. Their reward? A second-round encounter against the Colombian-Mexican team of Gonzalo Escobar and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela. The next match is set for Monday, and fans will be eager to see if the Indo-Kiwi partnership can keep their momentum rolling on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
While Bhambri and Venus celebrated, it was a different story for India’s other men’s doubles contenders. Rohan Bopanna, a stalwart of Indian tennis and a two-time US Open finalist (2010 and 2023), partnered with Monaco’s Romain Arneodo. The Indo-Monegasque pair faced a stern challenge from the American team of Robert Cash and James Tracy. Despite flashes of vintage Bopanna, the 45-year-old veteran and his partner were broken at crucial junctures—first in the ninth game of the opening set, then twice in the second set (the seventh and ninth games). The Americans capitalized on their opportunities, clinching the match 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour.
Bopanna’s early exit marked a sharp contrast to his deep runs in previous editions, including last year’s pre-quarterfinal appearance. As for Cash and Tracy, their polished performance and ability to convert break points ensured they moved on, leaving Bopanna and Arneodo to rue missed chances on the big stage.
Meanwhile, Arjun Kadhe, making his US Open debut, joined forces with Ecuador’s Diego Hidalgo and was drawn against one of the tournament’s toughest duos: second-seeded Mate Pavic and Marcelo Arevalo. Kadhe and Hidalgo came out swinging, grabbing the first set 7-5 and threatening a major upset. The second set, a tense affair, saw them narrowly edged out in a tiebreak 7-6(4). In the decider, the favorites found their groove, breaking the Indo-Ecuadorian pair in the tenth game to seal a hard-fought 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4 victory. Kadhe and Hidalgo’s spirited performance certainly raised eyebrows, but ultimately, experience and composure prevailed for the higher seeds.
With Bopanna and Kadhe bowing out, Bhambri and Venus now stand as India’s sole representatives in the men’s doubles draw. Their progression to the second round has injected a fresh wave of optimism into Indian tennis fans, who will be hoping the pair can extend their run deeper into the tournament. The duo’s chemistry and tactical prowess have been evident, and their ability to adapt to new opponents could prove crucial as the stakes rise.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Sundar Prashanth kept the Indian flag flying with a first-round upset win, earning themselves a second-round clash against Brazil’s Fernando Romboli and Australia’s John-Patrick Smith. The men’s doubles field remains wide open, and as the action heats up, every match promises its share of surprises and storylines.
Beyond the doubles, the US Open continues to deliver high-octane drama. In singles, Alexander Bublik outlasted Tommy Paul in a five-set thriller to reach the fourth round, setting up a marquee battle with world number one Jannik Sinner. The night sessions have been packed, the crowd electric, and the tennis nothing short of world-class.
Back to Bhambri and Venus—their next test against Escobar and Reyes-Varela looms large. Both opponents bring their own brand of doubles expertise, and the upcoming match is sure to be a tactical chess match. Can the 14th seeds ride their current wave of confidence and book a spot in the third round? With their blend of experience, aggression, and court sense, they certainly have the tools to make a deep run.
As the US Open 2025 rolls on, Bhambri and Venus’s clinical start has given Indian fans reason to cheer, even as the draw thins for other contenders. The Flushing Meadows lights will shine a little brighter when they return to court, as the duo looks to keep their Grand Slam dream alive in New York.
