Tennis: Yuki Bhambri storms into Bordeaux Challenger men's doubles final

India's Yuki Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway stormed into the men's doubles final at the Bordeaux Challenger €227,270 tournament on Saturday.

Bhambri and Galloway got the better of the all-Brazilian pair of Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 7-6(3) in straight sets.

The match started on a sedate note with both pairs holding their respective serves for the first seven games. Leading 4-3, Bhambri and Galloway hit the decisive blow in the eighth game to open up a 5-3 lead as they broke their third seeded opponents for the first time in the match.

Bhambri and Galloway held their serve in the ninth game to take the first set 6-3 without having to break a sweat in 30 minutes.

Matos and Melo were much more composed in the second set and match the Indo-American pair shot-for-shot. Neither side managed to break the serve as the scores remained level at 6 apiece after 12 games, forcing a set tie-break.

Bhambri and Galloway did lose the first point of the tiebreak but bounced back to win the next three to open up a 3-1 lead. They further built on the momentum to win it 7-3 and wrap up the match 76 minutes.

The second seeded Bhambri-Galloway will play fourth seeded Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler in the final on Sunday.