US Open | 'Sweeter with a friend': Yuki Bhambri on making first Slam semifinal with Michael Venus

NEW YORK: The ninth game of the third set encapsulated the two-hour and 37-minute contest played on an outside show court at Flushing Meadows.Michael Venus was serving for a place in the US Open men’s doubles semifinals, but fell behind 0-40.

He responded with two strong serves, and Yuki Bhambri’s deft play pulled the game back to deuce.

The air was charged with tension. The 14th seeds saved four more breakpoints in a nerve-racking exchange before sealing the win on their second match point.

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Bhambri and Venus put out the 11th seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and American Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 to storm into the final four of the season’s last major, a first for both players.

It is the first time in the last-four of a Grand Slam for the 33-year-old Indian, while his 37-year-old partner won the 2017 French Open title with Ryan Harrison, and also made the Wimbledon final the following year with Raven Klassen, who is now in Bhambri’s coaching corner.“When we were down 0-40 in the third set we played a lot more freely,” Bhambri said, “I joked with Mike telling him dessert is on me if he made a first serve.

It was a tense moment and I was trying to keep it light. We had a lot of situations like this these last days, we were able to keep our composure and close out the points.”
Bhambri and Venus, who knocked out the fourth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz to make the last eight, opened to a 4-1 lead in the first set. In the second, it was the 11th seeds, who had the home crowd behind them, taking a 4-1 lead before Bhambri and Venus levelled at 4-4. In the tie-break the Indo-Kiwi pairing started slowly, trailing 2-4, but won four of the next five points to give themselves a chance to close out the match in straight sets. Some strong play from the American-Croatian combine took the match into the decider.Bhambri nailed a backhand in the eighth game to break Mektic and give Venus a chance to serve it out.The key for Bhambri and Venus, who had 60 winners in the match, was their serving.

They saved 11 of 12 break points in the match.“I don’t think the first match point in the second set really hurt us, they played well there and we were able to reset,” Bhambri told TOI. “This whole match we felt we were in control, that was the conversation that we were having with each other during changeovers. We felt like it was ours to win or lose.”“At this stage of a Grand Slam it’s about executing the points, there are a lot of nerves and it is what you do rather than who you are playing,” Bhambri said, adding, “It helps that we go back 15 years and that we are such good friends.

In the short time I’ve been playing doubles, I have had other partners, so I can say that there is greater understanding and communication when you are playing alongside a friend. Also, these moments are so much sweeter with a friend.

”In the semi-finals on Thursday, Bhambri and Venus take on the sixth seeds from Britain Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski.“We go into the semi-finals as the underdogs,” the Indian said, “but the job is not finished for us, we’re taking it one step at a time. I would really like to give myself a shot at the title.”