From knee troubles to doubles force: Yuki Bhambri’s long road to ATP success and belief

Yuki Bhambri enjoyed significant success in singles – Australian Open boys champion at 16, world No.1 junior, and ranked a career-high 83 in the pros. When he made the shift to doubles four years ago, did the 33-year-old think he would simply ace it?The corners of Bhambri’s mouth lift into a half-smile before a quiet chuckle escapes.

“There were a lot of emotions,” he says, in his typical understated manner. “I did think that I would ace it when I started. Then once I started playing doubles, there was a time when I thought I might not be able to ace it. The transition took a little bit longer than I expected, but eventually, things panned out.”“I was learning every year, I made improvements. I moved up the ranking slowly, but surely,” he says, trying to make light of an allergy cold.

“There weren’t any sudden jumps, but I finally feel like I am doing what I want to do, playing the tournaments that I want to play, being able to maintain this ranking, giving myself these opportunities.”That breakthrough came last year at the Dubai Duty Free tennis championships, an ATP 500 event, where Bhambri teamed up with Australia’s Alexei Popyrin to beat Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Britain’s Henry Patten in the final for the biggest title of his career.

Some 12 months on, playing alongside Sweden’s Andre Goransson, Bhambri opens against the same Finnish-British duo in the first round on Tuesday. Heliovaara and Patten are seeded third in a doubles draw that also features three other Indians, the all-Indian pair of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Sriram Balaji, who is partnering Austria’s Neil Oberleitner.Bhambri, ranked No. 21 in the doubles rankings, switched from singles to doubles in 2022 after a three-year battle with tendonitis in both knees.

He returns not to defend a title, but to chase another.“Winning here opened up opportunities for me,” he said. “Doubles is quite competitive, with small draws a lot of players don't get opportunities. You want to be competing in these 500s, Masters but it is quite difficult to get in. So, more than winning this title giving me the belief, I think it opened doors for me to play a proper schedule on the ATP tour.”“It helped push me up the rankings, to be able to play these events, which then eventually led to better results,” Bhambri argued.

“A third round in the French Open and Wimbledon, semifinals at the US Open. This is what happens when you get these opportunities and are able to capitalise on them.” New hero for IndiaEarlier this month in Bengaluru, Bhambri anchored a scratch pairing with 25-year-old Dakshineshwar Suresh to deliver the decisive doubles point for India in their Davis Cup first-round qualifier against the fancied Netherlands.“Full credit to DK,” he said of the 6 ft 6’ US Collegiate player, who won all his three matches in the tie. “I remember seeing him as a 17-year-old, he’s a completely different player now. India has a new Davis Cup hero.”