Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus had a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over the pair of Luciano Darderi and Santiago Gonzalez in the Quarter Finals at the BMW Open by Bitpanda in Munich. They had earlier beaten the top seeds and last week’s winners at Monte Carlo, Kevin Krawietz & Tim Puetz, in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
We caught up with the duo after their Quarter-Final win. The duo reflected on building momentum, adapting to conditions, and Venus’ return to the tour after a long layoff.
Q. What were your thoughts on the match? It felt a lot more comfortable than yesterday.
Michael Venus: Yeah, I mean, obviously yesterday Tim and Kevin won Monte Carlo last week and they’re always one of the top doubles teams in the world, so that was tough. I think yesterday gave us a lot of confidence, and we kind of kept rolling with that today: we had a good start and were able to keep that momentum going, which really helped us throughout the match.
Yuki Bhambri: Exactly as he said. Playing the first match is always tough, and then you play against two really good opponents as well. Once you win that, it gives you a bit more momentum and confidence going into the next round, so we’re just happy to be in a semifinal here in Munich and hopefully we can keep putting up wins and getting good results.
Q. Looking ahead to the semi-finals, you’re playing yet another local pair. How are you looking at that match?
Michael: I think they made the semi-finals here last year, and they’ve already won quite a few matches here, too, so they’ll be confident and feeling good. They’ll have the home support as well, so it will be a tough match. We’ll prepare like we have been, go out there, and try to execute.
Q. Barcelona is warmer than Munich at this time of the year. How do you choose between tournaments like this?
Yuki: I think it’s a mix of experience and scheduling. I’ve been here a couple of times, and sometimes the ranking dictates where you can play. We got into this event, so we decided to come here. I’ve had some success in Munich in the past, so I enjoy coming here. The weather can be tough, but we’ve had two good days of sunshine—or at least some sunshine—the weather has been nice, and it’s always fun playing in Germany.
Q. Michael, how would you assess your game in these first couple of tournaments after a long injury layoff?
Michael: It’s hard to know when you’ve been out for six months or so. You can practice and feel good in practice, but you never really know until you’re actually in match situations – how you react and how you’re playing. Each week things have got better. Yuki’s been really supportive and helped a lot along the way, which has helped me feel calmer on court and more comfortable more quickly. I’m starting to feel quite good out there, clear on what I’m trying to do and how I’m trying to do it. Now it’s a matter of trying to do that daily and hopefully producing that level a bit more often.
Q. How tough is it to stay out of the game for so long, and how was it leading up to the comeback?
Michael: It was tough. I’ve never been out for that long before. But I was at home and able to spend time with my daughters, to be there day in, day out with them – doing things, helping them. That was really cool for me, to do something different and see things from a new perspective. I was always watching, keeping up with how the guys were doing, so I was excited to get back, and I’m enjoying being back out on tour.