Paris: India’s run at the 2025 French Open came to an end on Sunday, with Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri bowing out in the third round of the men’s doubles event alongside their respective partners.
Bopanna, paired with Czech player Adam Pavlasek, put up a strong fight but lost 2-6, 6-7(5) to the second-seeded duo of Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten—ranked third and fourth in the world, respectively.
After a shaky first set, Bopanna and Pavlasek found rhythm in the second but couldn’t break through.
The set went to a tie-breaker, where a brilliant service return by Heliovaara on match point sealed the win.
Meanwhile, Bhambri and his American partner Robert Galloway fell 4-6, 4-6 to the ninth-seeded American pair of Christian Harrison and Evan King.
An early break in the opening set left the Indo-American duo playing catch-up. Despite saving four set points in the ninth game, Galloway held serve under pressure.
Harrison later closed out the set, overcoming a 0-30 deficit.
The second set remained on serve until 4-4, when Bhambri dropped his serve at a crucial moment.
A missed overhead smash at 30-all followed by a volley error from Galloway handed their opponents the break. King and Harrison then served out the match without fuss.
Earlier in the day, Heliovaara and Patten had stormed to a 5-1 lead in the first set against Bopanna and Pavlasek, aided by two early breaks.
The Finn closed the set with a love hold, ending it with an emphatic overhead smash.
Bopanna started the second set with a flawless service game, while Patten responded with powerful, well-angled serves.
Bopanna and Pavlasek had a small opening in the sixth game, going up 0-30, but Patten responded with four straight points to hold firm and deny the break.
In other Indian results, N. Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bolipalli had already exited the tournament earlier in the doubles draw.
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In the junior boys’ singles, 17-year-old Manas Dhamne, one of India’s rising stars, lost 5-7, 3-6 to American qualifier Ronit Karki.
Despite showing promise throughout the qualifying rounds, Dhamne couldn’t replicate his best form in the main draw.
Hitesh Chauhan, another Indian in the boys’ singles, has qualified for the main draw and will face Sweden’s Ludvig Fredrik Hede in his opening round.
