The Paris heat played right into Sriram Balaji’s hands as he and partner Marcelo Demoliner moved into the final sixteen with a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Capitalizing on the warm conditions to fuel his serve and sharp net-play, Balaji sat with Prateek Chachra from ITD fresh off the court. He shared insights into his rivalry with the German duo of Schnaitter and Wallner and expressed his pride in taking the flag high on one of the world’s biggest stages.

Prateek: Hello, congratulations. That was an amazing match. Very dominant, especially against Munich ATP 500 winners. How do you feel?

Sriram Balaji: I felt good. We executed well. I’ve played them many times in the past. Obviously, they know our game style and we know them. We executed the plan really well. I’m happy about it.

Prateek: Beautiful. And this is your second Grand Slam third round and both of them are Roland-Garros. How do you feel?

Sriram Balaji: Yeah, I’m good. I like playing on clay. Like a lot of other Indians, I like playing here. It’s nice. The weather is also helping. It’s warm and helping with the serve and the game style.

Prateek: And Schnaitter and Wallner, as we discussed, they actually won ATP Munich very recently and you played them a bunch of times. Did you review any of their match videos before the match? What was your strategy coming in?

Sriram Balaji: No, not really. I mean, my coach did. Also, we see them every week almost in some tournaments. We also practice with them. When Raven was with Yuki, they also practiced against them. So we know about their games. We just went and did some homework about that.

Prateek: Lovely. And that homework paid off, apparently. What did you feel about the second set? It was quite dominant, especially at 5-2. It became quite interesting.

Sriram Balaji: It’s always a little bit tough towards the end when you close it. Also, we were serving at 30-all and they played good points. So it’s not like we were dominating, but still they kept pushing us. They’re a good team. They almost got a break point—they didn’t have a break point throughout the match except for the last game. So yeah, it’s good.

Prateek: Yeah. You guys pushed through pretty well in the last game. And what are your thoughts on the next match?

Sriram Balaji: We still have to wait and see because the two teams haven’t finished their first round yet. So Santi Gonzalez and Maxime Gonzalez are playing two singles players right now, and the winner will play Krawietz and Puetz tomorrow. We have about two more days. We’ll definitely watch them play tomorrow whenever they play and then we’ll do some homework.

Prateek: Any last words for our Indian Tennis Daily fans who are supporting you?

Sriram Balaji: I keep getting a lot of messages. Thanks to all the supporters. This is the stage where we have to take the flag high. We will keep doing our best.

Prateek: Thank you so much for your time and best of luck for the upcoming round. Incredible game.

Sriram Balaji: Thank you. Thanks for coming.

With two days to scout their next opponents, Balaji and Demoliner are using the time to prepare for their next challenge. As Balaji notes, the warm Paris weather is playing into their hands, making their serve-heavy style a significant threat as the tournament enters its second week.