Indian Wells, March 14 (IANS) India’s Yuki Bhambri and his Swedish partner Andre Goransson’s campaign at the Indian Wells Open ended in the men’s doubles semifinal after losing to Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot.

The cousins Rinderknech and Vacherot, who rose to fame last year when they played the third unseeded final in Masters 1000 history in Shanghai, advanced to their first career doubles final with a 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-5 victory over Bhambri and Goransson inside Stadium 1.

After dropping the first set 5-7, Bhambri and Goransson found themselves on the brink of elimination in the second. Trailing 4-5 and down 0-30 on serve, they were just two points away from defeat before staging a gritty comeback to force—and eventually win—a tiebreak.

After a difficult second set, Rinderknech and Vacherot regrouped and played their best tennis in their first match tiebreak of the week. With Goransson serving, Vacherot ripped a return that screamed into the doubles alley for a clean winner and an 8-4 lead. Rinderknech followed with a backhand return winner after the changeover to make it 9-4, eventually taking the tiebreak 10-5 to secure their spot in the final.

This was Bhambri’s maiden semifinal at the ATP Masters 1000 level, having made the doubles quarter-final at the Masters 1000 level twice. His previous two quarterfinal appearances were at Indian Wells came in 2025 (with Goransson) and Miami Masters 2025 (with Nuno Borges).

Last month, Bhambri climbed to a career-high ranking of world No. 20 in the latest ATP Rankings, making him the first Indian men’s doubles player to break into the Top 20 after Rohan Bopanna.

Partnering with Goransson, Bhambri produced an excellent showing at the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in Melbourne, reaching the third round to collect the ranking points necessary to push him past the threshold.

Bhambri has been steadily progressing since the 2025 season, when he reached the US Open semifinals alongside New Zealand’s Michael Venus, where they were narrowly edged out by the fourth-seeded British duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski after holding a set and break advantage.

In March 2025, Bhambri claimed his first ATP 500 title at the Dubai Tennis Championships, partnering Australia’s Alexei Popyrin. The pair came from a set down and saved four match points to defeat reigning US Open and Australian Open doubles champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten 3-6, 7-6 (12), 10-8 in a thrilling final.

–IANS

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