Melbourne, Jan 24 (IANS) India’s Yuki Bhambri and his partner Andre Goransson of Sweden fought back from a set behind to beat Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and the Netherlands’ David Pel in the men’s doubles second round at the Australian Open 2026 on Saturday. India, however, suffered a setback as another star, Sriram Balaji, and his partner went out of the competition at Melbourne Park.

Bhambri, India’s top-ranked men’s doubles player, and Goransson, the 10th seeds, came from a set down to beat Gonzalez and Pel 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in a hard-fought second-round clash. The Indo-Swedish pair was slow off the blocks and dropped the opening set after Bhambri was broken in the third game.

The match was suspended due to the Australian Open’s extreme heat policy when the second set was tied at 2-2.

However, Bhambri, 22nd in the men’s doubles ATP rankings, and Goransson regrouped well, holding serve consistently across the contest. After edging a tight second-set tie-break, Bhambri and Goransson asserted control in the decider, breaking their opponents twice to seal the match.

With Saturday’s victory, Bhambri, a former junior Australian Open champion in singles, reached the third round of the men’s doubles for the first time since 2014, when he partnered New Zealand’s Michael Venus. His best Grand Slam performance came last year at the US Open, where he reached the semifinals with Michael Venus.

Bhambri is now the only Indian tennis player remaining in contention at the Australian Open 2026.

Earlier in the day, Olympian Balaji’s run in the men’s doubles ended after he and Austrian partner Neil Oberleitner went down 7-5, 6-1 to fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Croatia’s Mate Pavic in the second round.

Balaji and Oberleitner had entered the main draw as late alternates and produced a notable first-round upset, beating former Grand Slam champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France and Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

Saturday’s defeat marked Balaji’s fourth consecutive second-round exit in the men’s doubles at the Australian Open. He is yet to progress beyond this stage at the season-opening Grand Slam.

On Thursday, Bhambri and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the USA bowed out in the opening round of the mixed doubles, losing to sixth seeds Zhang Shuai of the People’s Republic of China and Germany’s Tim Putz in straight sets.

–IANS

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