India’s doubles team, which consists of N. Sriram Balaji and his partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, lost the second round of the Grand Slam on Saturday and were eliminated. Despite putting up a fight against Francisco Cabral and Nuno Borges, Balaji and Reyes-Varela lost the three-set match 6-7, 6-4, 3-6.

In the men’s doubles division, Rohan Bopanna, Ritvik Bollapalli, and Anirudh Chandrasekar all withdrew after the first round, leaving Balaji as India’s lone fighter. The match was tightly contested from the start, with both players experiencing nervous moments after giving up breakpoints. The first set ended with a 6-6 score, forcing the match to go to the tiebreaker.

Borges and Cabral captured the first set and won the match handily by 6-1, despite Balaji and Reyes-Varela winning the opening point in the tiebreaker.

A comeback by Balaji and Reyes-Varela

After losing the first set tiebreaker, the Indo-Mexican duo was not let down and dominated the Portuguese pair to start the second set. They were up 2-0 when Reyes-Varela served Borges-Cabral, and they made excellent use of their own service game to cut the margin.

Balaji and Reyes-Varela led 40-0 and had three set points under their belts in the eleventh game of the second set. Despite saving a single point, the Indo-Mexican duo advanced to the tiebreaker since the score was tied at one.

As the match progressed to Game 4, both partners won their serves in the third and final sets. Borges-Cabral put up a fight against the Indo-Mexican duo, taking a 3-1 lead thanks to Reyes-Varela’s serve, and never let up.

Despite their best efforts, Balaji and Reyes-Varela lost the contest, which lasted for around two hours and nine minutes.