In an exclusive sit-down with Times Now, Indian tennis stalwart Yuki Bhambri reflects candidly on his career resurgence, Grand Slam ambitions, and the packed month awaiting Indian tennis.
Brief transcript below
Interviewer: So, the US Open men’s doubles draw is taking place on the 2nd of September. How are you feeling ahead of the draw and the tournament? Are you nervous, or is it more excitement at this stage of your career?
Yuki Bhambri: I think you always have a little bit of nervousness and excitement usually when you step on court, regardless of how many times you’ve played events. Grand Slams are something that as tennis players we really look forward to. It is one of the few events that we would really like to do well at. It defines how your career goes by. So those four tournaments is where you want to be at your best and do well, and hopefully try and pick up a Slam along the way. So there are definitely additional nerves and additional excitement when you play a Slam. And so, yeah, US Open, no matter how many times you’ve played this before, there’s always that. But looking forward to it, looking forward to playing here again. I’ve always enjoyed coming to New York, and yeah, we’ll see how the draw shapes up.
Interviewer: You and Michael Venus have been partnering regularly since last year. How did this partnership come about, and what makes you two such a good combination?
Yuki Bhambri: Yeah, it was just finally things clicking with the rankings being in place. He’s one of my closest friends on tour, and I’ve known him for about probably 15-odd years now. We played the Australian Open in 2014 as well, where we reached the third round, and then he sort of pivoted towards doubles, and I was still playing singles then, so we never really got an opportunity again to play.
And when the rankings finally were more aligned where we could play some of the Masters events and the Grand Slams together—which was sort of middle of last year where my ranking had gone up—that’s when we decided that we could go and play. It was always something that I was, when I’d switched to doubles, to look forward to is to try and play with Michael, because we’ve always been… it’s nice to have a friend alongside you. And yeah, so the journey sort of continues again.
Interviewer: In 2014 Australian Open, when you partnered Venus, you both actually lost to Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in the third round. Do you remember that tournament, and isn’t it interesting to look back at how things have come… you partnered him in 2014, and now you guys are partnering regularly?
Yuki Bhambri: Yeah, that’s a long time ago. We still haven’t played another Australian Open together, so that was the one and only time. So hopefully we can sort of continue this and go back to playing another Australian Open as well in 2027. But fond memories. I think that was my first… might have been my first main draw Slam, I think so. Obviously it was nice to win a couple of matches and play there and get a taste of how things are at the Grand Slam level.
Interviewer: How was it playing against Leander Paes? Is his personality off the court similar to how it’s on television, you know, how we see him?
Yuki Bhambri: I think when you’re playing tennis, it sort of doesn’t matter what the personality is. He’s obviously had a great success, one of the greats of Indian tennis, and did exceedingly well in his career. So it was a fortunate experience to be able to share the court, I guess, against him in this instance.
Interviewer: So, last year, as we spoke earlier, you reached the semis of the US Open with Venus. And both of you even won the first set in the semifinals, but then your opponents fought back and then you guys lost. How do you look back on that experience now? Was it difficult to get over that loss?
Yuki Bhambri: Not really. I think we were struggling a little bit, so it was good to make that run. It was my biggest run at a Slam. We were obviously quite close to make a final as well, so I would probably say a bit bittersweet. I would have liked to play the finals. Obviously, given myself, put myself in a position to do that, couldn’t really close out the match. But looking back, also happy to make a run into the semifinals. So, you know, again, uncharted territory for me. A good experience as well, and something hopefully can take that into this year’s Open and build on that and take another step forward.
Interviewer: Does reaching the US Open final feel like an unfinished job for you right now, as last year you guys were one match away from reaching, like you were very close? Is it something which is eating your head, at least now before the US Open?
Yuki Bhambri: Not eating my head per se. Every tennis player’s goal is obviously to try and compete at the Grand Slams to hopefully one day be able to lift a Grand Slam trophy. So that will always sort of be a goal, no matter even if you’ve done that before. Going into every Slam, that’s always the, like I said, the motivation and goal is to try and go as deep as possible and to keep doing better.
Interviewer: India’s second-round Davis Cup tie against South Korea is coming up on September 18th and 19th, and it will be an away tie. How confident are you that this team can qualify for the first stage, for the final eight?
Yuki Bhambri: We definitely have a good chance. I think both India and Korea would really be looking at this as an opportunity. Very rarely do you get to play another Asian opponent in the Round of 16. India hasn’t been in this position in a very long time, so I think it’s definitely a great opportunity for us.
We’ve shown in the past with beating Switzerland and Netherlands in the two ties that we are up to the mark, and it’s the reason why we are in the Round of 16. So obviously hoping that the boys put their best foot forward. You always have to do that at Davis Cup. You’re competing against some of the best, so if we can bring our ‘A’ game like we have in the past, I see no reason why we can’t win this tie as well.
Interviewer: Like in football, we see the home-away leg tie in tournaments, and the home-away leg makes a huge difference in football. Is it the same in tennis? Does it make a difference if you’re home or if you’re away?
Yuki Bhambri: It is exactly the same in tennis. You face similar challenges like you would face in football. You would rather play at home than play at Liverpool at Anfield. You get the conditions you want, you choose the surface you want, you can choose the city you want. You have a lot more people rooting for you than against you, and it makes a massive difference.
Davis Cup is one of the only few times where you can really get that sort of home support or big crowds coming in. So in that sense, we don’t have that this time, but you can’t really choose the draw and you can’t really choose a home and away. We played them home, I think, a couple of years ago, so it’s our turn to go there. But we have proven in the past that we can win away as well, and so this would be no different.
Interviewer: Could you share some interesting incident in a past away Davis Cup experience? How is it to play in an away condition? Do fans heckle, or are there fans trying to get into your minds, or is it the weather conditions? What’s the most difficult thing about an away Davis Cup tie?
Yuki Bhambri: Yeah, different countries, different conditions. South Africa, we played, was really, really cold in my debut tie in ’09. Played in New Zealand, where the fans were courtside, really heckling us, and we had a bad time with that. We had to sort of just focus on playing tennis.
But that is sort of Davis Cup for you. You expect that. You have to have a thick skin going into some of these ties, because they’re allowed to sort of cheer on for the team and egg on their players.
Interviewer: What were your biggest takeaways from India’s tie against the Netherlands?
Yuki Bhambri: I think the belief that India showed to come out there to beat some of the top players. All the team members, I think, did a fantastic job—Sumit, DK, everyone who was sort of out there competing for us did a great job and believed in themselves. We, I think, had no business to be in that position to win the tie, but everyone fought their best and gave their best, and the result sort of speaks for itself.
Interviewer: You are all set to represent India at the Asian Games also, which will be after the Davis Cup tie. What are your expectations from the Indian tennis team for the Asian Games? Do you think you guys can come back with a medal or two?
Yuki Bhambri: Hopefully. That is a goal. Every time you’re going for these Games, you would want to try and do the best that you can and hopefully get a medal. So I think that would be the goal for all the players in all the sports representing as well. I certainly think we are capable enough of competing for medals in Asia, and that will definitely be a goal to try and, you know, win as many medals as we can.
Interviewer: You were once the junior World No. 1, and you also won the Australian Open junior boys’ title. When you look back at your singles career as a junior, why do you think for Indians especially, or Asians, it’s hard to replicate their junior playing form into the senior circuit? Is it because of diet, or how facilities are in Asia? What do you think are the reasons?
Yuki Bhambri: I don’t think it’s one factor as per se. I think just a whole lot of things have to come together. You’re competing with the rest of the world; you’re not competing with just an age group. It’s a closed age group when you’re competing with 17-18-year-olds. This is just the best 18-year-olds in the world. When you then move on to senior circuit, you’re competing with players who are a year, two years, five years, 10 years older than you.
And tennis is such a difficult sport. It’s a global sport played all over the world, so we are competing with the best of the best with good facilities, good training, good tennis heritage as well from a lot of these countries. So there’s not just sort of one single factor. A lot more players play as well. I know we’re a big population, but we don’t have a lot of players playing tennis. So you’re always picking a small pool of players. But I think we’re on the right path again as well in hoping that we can continue churning out some good tennis players who can represent India.
Interviewer: The first time when you became a professional senior player, what was the first thing which shocked you? Like, you felt like this is levels higher and you need to work harder?
Yuki Bhambri: I think every level you sort of feel that. When you’re competing, it wasn’t just a straight thing where you go to a tournament and the level shocks you. I had the privilege of competing with some of the greats when I was still a junior. I had the opportunities of rubbing shoulders with Kei Nishikori, Radek Stepanek, Max Mirnyi—all these guys who were sort of still playing at that point of time—Pete Sampras. So I sort of had an idea of how the levels are.
But obviously when you’re making the transition, you realize that at certain times when you run into different type of players, that there’s still changes to be made in your game, and you try and continue improving. And I think that’s what eventually helped me step-by-step to try and make that mark and then finally compete in the Grand Slams in singles.
Interviewer: You started playing tennis as a kid, and now you’re one of the most experienced players in Indian tennis. From what you have seen over the years, how much has the tennis ecosystem in India changed since you were a small kid learning how to play?
Yuki Bhambri: A lot. I think there’s a lot more knowledge now. Just an example: we probably were just doing laps across the courts or fields as fitness, whereas now there is a proper setup now that you go about things. There is gym, there’s mobilities, there’s different kind of workouts. It’s not just sort of running around a field, which used to be our fitness back in the day.
Nutrition has changed, a lot of sports science I think has changed, technology obviously has changed. So over the years, I think things have changed, and I think India is also doing a better job now and gradually keeping up and trying their best to raise our standards as well so that we can compete at the world level.
Interviewer: You’re also affiliated with RoundGlass. Do you like training in their academy in Mohali, and how do you think RoundGlass has been beneficial to your career as a tennis player?
Yuki Bhambri: So they are a great example of how I think things have changed, how setups have changed. They’ve got everything in-house, not just tennis, you know, with football as well. We didn’t have sort of this facility or anyone trying to achieve that of having everything where you can play, you can study, you can access a nutritionist, a psychologist, fitness, everything under one roof.
I remember back in my days, you’d drive around everywhere—20-30 minutes to go to a gym, school different, tennis different, everywhere, and you spend so many hours just sort of traveling. And I think one of the things that RoundGlass has done and has achieved already incredibly well, is why they’re also successful, is that they’ve brought everything under one roof, which makes it a lot easier and for an athlete to just focus on the task in hand. And I think that’s one of the things that I sort of really love about them and their setup.
Interviewer: And also, do you think academies like RoundGlass are helping us now to find players at a younger age in India?
Yuki Bhambri: They are. They are. With everything, they’ve had a great scouting team. Every time I’m there, you know, always see kids sort of coming up. Over the last few years, I think, have got a lot of junior prospects who’ve played the Grand Slams already in the juniors, who are making their mark up. They have a good lot of Davis Cup players as well already playing. You know, they’re one of the competitors in the football league as well.
So I think they’ve got the right attitude and right mindset of honing kids and developing them from a young age, where you can then sort of set the standards quite early for them to achieve good results in their own careers.
Interviewer: You have a packed few weeks ahead of you with the US Open, Davis Cup, and Asian Games. What keeps you motivated at this stage of your career? You’re past 30 now, and you’re getting older, so how do you keep yourself motivated physically and also mentally?
Yuki Bhambri: Tournaments like these. Every four years you sort of have an opportunity. September is a very busy month after a really long time. We obviously always have Davis Cup, but not being in this position before in the Round of 16 to play the quarterfinals, having a chance again at an Asian Games medal, coming back and playing at the Slams—this is… there are only a few years sort of left. An athlete’s life is quite small. It’s not infinite time that you can play a sport for the rest of your life.
So I really enjoy these moments. It’s something that I wanted to play and looked forward to as a kid, and so I’m almost living my dream. And I would like to extend this as much as possible. I think that’s what sort of keeps me going, is to be here and competing for a lot of these tournaments and titles.
Interviewer: Finally, one last question. What would be your message to all the Indian tennis fans ahead of the Asian Games and Davis Cup? It’s a busy schedule even for tennis fans in India right now.
Yuki Bhambri: Yeah, first of all, I hope they’re aware. That’s a very busy month. It’s something for all the tennis fans to look forward to: cheer us, support us, watch all of us. It’s a great level of tennis. It’s not just the US Open, where you can obviously see the world’s great, but also to see support India in Davis Cup and to see where the Asian standards are as well.
I think it’s a great, great month, a jam-packed month for tennis lovers. So go out, watch, and support us.