‘Onwards and upwards’ aiming Jeevan, Sriram Balaji hope to make French Open cut after exceptional Tata Open run

N Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were not even part of the 5th Tata Open Maharashtra. Four days back, when Slovak-Serbian pair of Alex Molcan and Laslo Djere pulled out of the tournament, the Indian duo made their way into the doubles draw as an alternate. Hence, their run to the final, which included a win against second seed pair of Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow in the quarters, was nothing short of a fairy-tale ride. But Jeevan wasn’t quiet happy with the tag, admitting there was “nothing unexpected” in their campaign in Pune’s Balewadi Stadium after “consistent” performances in Challenger events. The dream end was surely denied in the final on Sunday by the Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, but the Indian pair remains hopeful of a better 2023, naming French Open as their “present short-term goal”.

Balaji was astute with his service in the opening set but Jeevan dropped serve in the third game. The left-handed Vliegen eventually wrapped up the set 6-4. The Belgians looked dominant in the second set as well, taking an early lead after breaking Balaji’s serve. Vliegen crushing forehand winner helped the second-seeded duo earn a break. Balaji denied it twice with his serve before Jeevan sent his lob sailing over the line to hand the break. Gille eventually closed out the match, winning 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 10 minutes.

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Opining that there were “no glaring errors” and that “all four players served well”, Jeevan did not want to indulge much on reading into the loss and rather credited their consistent run of making six semi-finals in the Challenger circuit between October and November 2022. Earlier in June the same year, they won two Challenger titles as well – on Bratislava and Blois.

“I think we made 6-7 Challenger semis in a row and it is one of those things with the points system in the Challengers where there is not enough reward but the work of consistently making the semis. We kept knocking on the door even last year. So I am not very surprised that we are getting these results because we know we are in that level,” the 34-year-old, who played his third ATP Tour final, said in the post-match press conference as he looked back at their campaign.

“I am obviously very happy that we got a chance to play in the home ATP and we are very grateful to the Maharashtra crowd for coming out. It was exciting to play with Bala and was a great start to the year. It is lot of months of hard work and consistent results in the Challengers. So onwards and upwards,” he added.

Had the Indian duo lifted their maiden ATP title, they would have broken into the top 100, which already has four Indians with Rohan Bopanna the highest ranked player at 99. However, with the loss, they now stand on the doorstep, with Jeevan on 101 and Balaji, 102.

Putting this result and the run in perspective, The Indian pair now aim to make the cut for the French Open, for which they need to have a combined ranking of 150. Jeevan has made six main-draw appearances in Grand Slam doubles, including one at Roland Garros in 2019. Balaji, on the other hand, had made the Wimbledon second round in men’s doubles in 2018.

“This is a great start to the season. Our real short-term goal is to play the French Open. We are looking forward to making the cut for it. We had a target of making these many points in certain number of weeks. This week gives us 150 points and we hope to see these coming and climb up the ladder. So before the deadline we aim to be inside the top 75, that is the goal for the next 3-4 months,” said Balaji.