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Yuki now the only Indian still alive at the AO 2026:

Men's Doubles
[R1] 10-Yuki Bhambri/Andre Goransson (IND/SWE) vs. James Duckworth/Cruz Hewitt (AUS/AUS)

Mixed Doubles
[R1] Yuki Bhambri/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (IND/USA) vs. 6-Tim Putz/Zhang Shuai (GER/CHN)

Melichar-Martinez is ranked ...

[R1] W- Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND)/Pruchya Isarow (THA) l. Pedro Martinez/Jaume Munar (ESP/ESP) 67(3) 57

Lost first set TB. Were up a break in the second set, but got broken back in the 8th game (Isarow's serve) to make it 4-4 in the second.
Isarow got broken again in the 12th game, so our pair ...

Next up for Nishesh is 29 year old 15th seed Karen Khachanov, who won a 5-setter today against Alex Michelsen.

[R1] Q- Nishesh Basavareddy (USA, 242) d. W-Christopher O'Connell (AUS, 118) 46 76(7) 67(3) 62 63

Nishesh was brilliant in the final two sets. In the third, he played a loose service game to be broken at love, managed to break back at 3-5, but was well beaten in the tiebreak. Nishesh was much more ...

Next up for Nishesh is the opportunity to get his first main draw win in a Slam:

[R1] Q-Nishesh Basavareddy (USA, 239; CH 99) vs. WC-Christopher O'Connell (AUS, 118; CH 53)

O'Connell made R3 at the AO four years ago, Wimbledon 3 years ago, and USO in 2024. But he is 31, so I think Nishesh has an ...

arjun2761 wrote: Thu Jan 15, 2026 7:20 pm Nishesh win another close match in Q3 to qualify for the Australian Open main draw. Not playing too well but showing a lot of grit to come through!

He beat George Loffhagen (GBR, 211; CH 200) 57 64 64, so a slightly easier match than Q2.

ASB Classic, Auckland

[SF] 1- Yuki Bhambri /Andre Goransson (IND/SWE) l. Alexander Erler/Robert Galloway (AUT/USA) 46 64 8-10 - our team were leading 8-5 in the STB, then lost the next 5 points in a row. So the preparation for the AO has gone rather poorly for this pair.

[QF] 1- Bhambri ...

Q2 and Q3 yet to be played in Chennai. So main draw matches unlikely before Tuesday (and many on Wednesday).

1-Yuki/Andre win their R1 in Auckland 63 62 against Rojer/Rai, after initially going down 1-3 in the first set. They then romped through the next 5 games of that set.

Really superb wins for Arnav Paparkar and our 14 year old phenom Jensi Kanabar. I'm so glad I saw her play yesterday!

Poor start to the year for Yuki:

[R2] 2-Yuki Bhambri/Andre Goransson (IND/SWE) l. Rafael Matos/Orlando Luz (BRA/BRA) 57 46

Lots of drama in the final set tiebreak. Sumit letting a ball go at the baseline on match point as he assumed it would be called long. His opponent then had a meltdown when Sumit served as he thought the ball should have been called out. Finally, Sumit on match point to win serves underhand. Crazy ...

Doubles QF line-up:

1-Balaji/Oberleitner vs. ALT-Biryukov/Lomakin
3-Reymond/Sanchez vs. W-Myneni/Kalyanpur
4-Barrientos/Kittay vs Dev/Sinha
Isarow/Poonacha vs. Houkes/Visker

So, there is an Indian involved in all 4 doubles QFs.

Dhakshineswar Suresh is now the India #3 at 468 in the live ATP rankings (just ahead of Karan Singh at 470, although they both have the same number of points), and Manas Dhamne is the India #5 at 499.

Singles QF line-up:

1-Pedro Martinez (ESP, 96) vs. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER, 346)
Matteo Martineau (FRA, 319) vs. W-Manas Dhamne (IND, 556)
6-Timofey Skatov (KAZ, 235) vs. Jonas Forejtek (CZE, 441)
2-Harold Mayot (FRA, 167) vs. Dhakshineswar Suresh (IND, 521)