Indian Wells, March 12 (IANS) India’s Yuki Bhambri and his Swedish partner Andre Goransson have sailed into the semifinals of the Indian Wells Open on Thursday morning, dismantling the Austrian-Italian pairing of Alexander Erler and Andrea Vavassori.

Bhambri and Goransson registered a 6-3, 7-6(2) win over Erler and Vavassori. This is 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).

Notably, the unseeded duo has yet to drop a single set in the tournament. In the Round of 16, Bhambri and Goransson defeated the pair of Sander Arends and Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 after launching their campaign with a resounding victory, defeating the duo of David Pel and Fabrice Martin in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.

They will face await the winners of Khachanov/Rublev and Rinderknech/Vacherot. with a place in the final at stake.

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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