French Open: Sriram Balaji-Marcelo Demoliner advance to men's doubles quarterfinals

India’s N. Sriram Balaji and Brazil’s Marcelo Demoliner continued their impressive run at the French Open, upsetting sixth-seeded Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz to reach the men’s doubles quarterfinals on Monday.

The Indo-Brazilian pair produced a composed display to secure a 7-5, 6-4 victory in one hour and 25 minutes on the clay courts of Roland Garros. The win marked their third successive triumph in the tournament and underlined their growing confidence as a team.

Balaji and Demoliner will now face the formidable second-seeded pairing of Finland’s Harri Heliovaara and Britain’s Henry Patten for a place in the semifinals.

The quarterfinal appearance caps a strong week for Balaji and Demoliner, who had earlier registered a convincing second-round victory over Germany’s Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner. The pair needed just one hour and 27 minutes to seal a 7-5, 6-2 win and book their place in the last 16.

While Balaji’s campaign gathered momentum, it was the end of the road in men’s doubles for Yuki Bhambri and New Zealand’s Michael Venus. The Indo-New Zealand duo suffered a 3-6, 4-6 defeat against the experienced Italian combination of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the second round.

Bhambri and Venus had started their campaign strongly, defeating Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Mariano Kestelboim 7-5, 6-2 in the opening round. Bhambri, however, remains alive in the tournament after progressing in the mixed doubles alongside partner Alexandra Panova.

In the junior events, Arnav Paparkar advanced to the boys’ singles round of 16 with a solid 6-2, 6-4 victory over 15th seed Kuan-Shou Chen of Chinese Taipei. Paparkar will also feature in the boys’ doubles competition, partnering Thailand’s Kunanan Pantaratorn against Great Britain’s Mark Ceban and Russia’s Kirill Filaretov.

Elsewhere, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi was scheduled to face eighth-seeded Russian Mariia Makarova in the second round of the girls’ singles event as Indian interest at Roland Garros continued across multiple draws.

– Ends