Tennis
2025 Cincinnati Open: Yuki Bhambri exits in the men's doubles first round
Yuki and New Zealand's Michael Venus suffered a three-set defeat at the ATP Masters tournament.
The match was an 1 hour and 50 minute long battle of attrition. (Photo credit: Wimbledon)
Indian ace Yuki Bhambri, partnering with Michael Venus of New Zealand, faced a three-set defeat in the first round of the Cincinnati Open 2025 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Ohio, USA, on Tuesday.
Despite winning the opening set, Yuki and Venus bowed down 6-3, 6-7, 4-10 to the pair of Francisco Cabral of Portugal and Lucas Miedler of Austria in a tiring 1 hour and 50 minute long match.
This was the third defeat in the fourth match for the Indo-Kiwi pair on this North American tour, which is not a good sign for them before the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open 2025.
Yuki and Venus had a good start to the match, winning the first set comfortably by 6-3, but then they lost composure and had multiple unforced errors, including four double faults in the second set, which forced a decider.
They had a horrible start to the decider, going down by a heavy deficit of seven points, 2-9, which pushed them on the brink. Thereafter, despite saving a couple of match points, they were unable to salvage the match.
Earlier, Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna and his American partner Ethan Quinn also exited the tournament, ending India's campaign in the first round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
