Don't feel the job is done yet: Yuki Bhambri stays focused ahead of US Open semi-final

India's top-ranked doubles player, Yuki Bhambri, has been breaking new ground at the ongoing US Open in New York.

On Tuesday, the 33-year-old, partnering New Zealand's Michael Venus reached his first Grand Slam doubles quarter-final and then went one better on Wednesday as the Indo-Kiwi duo knocked out the sixth seeds Rajeev Ram/ Nikola Mektic 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

'Tough matches ahead'

The win marks a significant milestone for the former junior world No. 1 but Bhambri insists that he is keeping his head firmly focused on the next round for now.

"Of course, I'm very happy to be in a semi-final of a Grand Slam, but don't feel the job is done yet and would really like to win as much as we can, push through and give myself a chance to play that final," Bhambri told The Bridge exclusively via phone from New York.

Bhambri will be back on court on Thursday as he and Venus, seeded 14th, face off against the sixth seeds Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury, who have five men's doubles majors between them.

"Obviously, tough matches ahead and nothing easy here, so I would really have to fight for every point and hopefully can give myself that opportunity to play a Grand Slam final," Bhambri added.

Good friends and partners

Bhambri and Venus played together in 2014 and remained good friends even as their careers took different trajectories. The Indian broke into the top-100 in the singles rankings and peaked at No. 83 in 2018. Around that same time, the Kiwi won the 2017 French Open doubles title and finished runner-up at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.

They only reunited to play doubles at the start of the American summer hardcover stretch this year but had limited success - winning only three matches in a span of four tournaments. But the duo has worked hard during their downtime to get in sync as a team and the results are now there to show.

"Me and Michael have really worked hard in the last few weeks to try to get better and fine-tune our game and to get in sync. We didn't have the best of starts, but over the last week or two, I feel that we've been progressing well and we're finally showing some results. We've been trying to watch our matches, analyse our game and try to do better. We've known each other for a very long time, 14, 15 years. We obviously played in 2014 at the Australian Open as well, so we've been in touch and good friends and I think sometimes that also helps on the court and to bring out the best in each other," the Indian said.

"Results showing"

It's been a few years now since Bhambri, who won the Australian Open boys singles title as a junior, decided to become a doubles specialist. The improvements in his doubles game and the subsequent rise have been slow and steady. And Bhambri, who will break into the top 25 of the world rankings for the first time next week, hopes that will continue in the time ahead.

"I've really just been trying to improve my game, improve my tennis and take it step-by-step. Things take time. Nothing comes easy, nothing comes quick and every year I've felt that I've been a better tennis player and a better doubles player. The results are showing and I would like to be more consistent as well. But's a great step, at least personally for me, to be doing well and winning a few rounds at the Grand Slams. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going and keep pushing and keep getting better," the Indian signed off.