Paris 2024 Olympian N Sriram Balaji and his American accomplice Evan King superior to the second spherical of the US Open 2026 tennis males’s doubles occasion in New York on Friday.
Balaji and King saved six match factors throughout the second and third units as they rallied to beat the Netherlands duo Sander Arends and David Pel 3-6, 7(9)-6(7), 7(12)-6(10) in two hours and 56 minutes.
The 36-year-old Balaji, 54th within the ATP doubles rankings, and world No. 53 Evan King, 34, struggled to make inroads in opposition to the Dutch pair’s serve early within the match.
They had been damaged as soon as within the eighth sport as Sander Arends and David Pel – quarter-finalists on the French Open earlier this 12 months – received the primary set.
The second set went to a tie-break, the place Balaji and King saved two match factors earlier than edging it 9-7 to drive a decider.
The Indo-American pair had been on the brink once more at 5-6 within the third set however saved one other three match factors to remain alive.
Within the deciding tie-break, they fended off a sixth match level earlier than prevailing 12-10 to finish a outstanding comeback.
Balaji had additionally reached the second spherical of the US Open in 2024, when he partnered Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi, earlier than bowing out.
He entered the ultimate Grand Slam of 2026 after successful the Cancun Nation Open ATP Challenger 125 doubles title alongside compatriot Anirudh Chandrasekar final month.
Balaji and King will face Monaco’s Hugo Nys and France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin within the second spherical.
Hugo Nys is a former Australian Open males’s doubles finalist, whereas Edouard Roger-Vasselin received the French Open doubles title in 2014.
In the meantime, Niki Poonacha, ranked world No. 81 in doubles, bowed out within the opening spherical alongside Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar.
Poonacha and Escobar misplaced to Czechia’s Petr Nouza and Austria’s Neil Oberleitner 7(7)-6(3), 6(4)-7(7), 6-2 in two hours and 24 minutes.
Yuki Bhambri, India’s highest-ranked doubles tennis participant at world No. 32, will start his US Open marketing campaign alongside New Zealand’s Michael Venus on Saturday.
Bhambri and Venus will face American pair Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac within the opening spherical. The Indian-New Zealand mixture reached the US Open semi-finals final 12 months.
India has no illustration in singles on the ongoing US Open 2026.
