“Indian Wells is a Beautiful Place to Play Tennis” – Yuki Bhambri Reflects on Maiden Masters 1000 Doubles Win

After securing his first-ever Masters 1000 doubles victory at Indian Wells, Yuki Bhambri sat down for an exclusive interview with Indian Tennis Daily. He spoke about his return to the tournament, the challenges of playing with different partners, his recent improvements, and the incredible support he receives from Indian fans.

Anuj: Yuki, congratulations on your maiden doubles win here at Indian Wells! It’s great to see you back. To start, could you tell me a little bit about what this tournament means to you? We know it was the site of one of your greatest singles triumphs.

Yuki: Yeah, no, it was definitely nice to come back after so many years. The one time I played here, I had great results. It was the start of a great run for me in my singles career, I think back in 2018, maybe. So, I mean, as well as being a beautiful place to play tennis, it’s a great tournament to come to. And, yeah, it’s been a long time obviously trying to play as high as I can and trying to play these events. So, just shows, I guess, the progress I’ve made on the doubles tour to come out here and be able to play Indian Wells again.

Anuj: Of course. And this year, of course, you found out quite late that you were going to play here. Tell me a little bit what that was like to prepare, you know, finding out and then just going right in and playing your first match.

Yuki: Yeah, tough. I honestly felt I didn’t give myself enough time, and I’m glad I ended up playing today because I’m still waking up at three in the morning, so horribly jet lagged. Yeah, so nice to get through, you know, a win. It was a very seesaw match, obviously, so but yeah, I think I did the best that I could in the time to prepare. Not ideal, but it’s never going to be. If you’re coming in as an alternate, you’re never going to know when you’re going to play. So, hopefully, down the line, I probably can have opportunities of being in the direct acceptance, and if I can keep winning matches here and in these events, it obviously just makes my life a lot easier, of course.

Anuj: And so, in the spirit of what you just said, you’ve been playing with different partners the past couple months. Like, it’s Dodig once and then Goransson. So, what’s that been like with changing partners and then coming into a tournament with a different partner?

Yuki: Yeah, tough, you know, not easy to always adapt. But I think winning solves everything. So, it’s just nice to keep winning a few matches in and also probably just helped me in a way, helps me focus on my own game and not really worry because I can’t… there’s nothing that I can sort of control there or build up as a team. So, really just trying to do my bit and my best on the court. I’m hoping, you know, that I’ve been fortunate also to have good partners next to me, which, you know, as a doubles team, you’re not going to single-handedly do anything out there. So, it’s been nice to have… I’ve been lucky to have good partners there, and I think I’ve been playing well as well to complement the different guys that I’ve been playing with.

Anuj: Yeah. So, actually, one of my colleagues, who is watching you from, I think, India, pointed this out, but they said that you maybe have tweaked your serve action a little bit, and is that true, and has that helped you?

Yuki: I have. That is true.

I did change that in the offseason in November, December. Something that me and Raven Klaasen, who’s part of the Doubles Stream program, spoke about and knowing how, I mean, serving has always been one of the most important aspects in tennis, but in doubles all the more so, because, you know, it comes down to a few points. So, that’s something that I have again changed after a really long time and just… yeah, I think it’s been obviously, I’m sure, you know, part of my success has been that I’ve been definitely been serving better and a lot more confident out there as well.

Anuj: Very good. So, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about this specific match. Like you mentioned, it was a little up and down, particularly at the beginning. It seemed like you all started slow. So, could you walk me through sort of the match as you felt it playing it?

Yuki: Yeah, it was difficult conditions to serve into, and I think the wind as well played a bit of a factor. I haven’t been a part of these matches where you’ve had four breaks of serve going into a first set and then a bunch more in the second set as well. So, it was, I think, it was just a tough serving day with the conditions. Return has got a lot more hits. Obviously, it didn’t help that we didn’t put a whole lot of first serves in there as well. But, you know, it was definitely tough, once again, really almost down and out. But, you know, in doubles, it really comes down to the last few points. If you can sort of hang in there and just play the end well, the beginning doesn’t matter at all. So, yeah, I think we just sort of got our groove a bit, got a bit more confidence once we started holding serve a little bit better, and we were always returning well. So, it was just really for us, I think when we spoke about it with Andre as well, just about holding serve and trying to find a way on our service games to get us through. And I think we were a lot better towards the end of the match during that.

Anuj: Yeah. So, when you talk about serving, you mentioned it, like I think there’s also credit to the returning, and I saw at several moments, you know, you had very good returns, just one off, you know, right down the line. So, could you talk to me a little bit about, did you see the ball better, or was that just a function of seeing more second serves?

Yuki: Both. I think it’s also one of my strengths that I bring to a doubles team. I trust my return game. So, most of the times, well, some days it comes off, some days it doesn’t. But at times, I think I was able to make a few of them. I think my partner did a pretty good job as well on his side. You know, there were a couple of crucial points, a couple of deuce points that he took, and he won us those points as well. So, it was most of the time the thing just adapting sometimes to situation, sometimes taking a chance, you know, on the return side. And yeah, sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. But I think it was an overall decent, you know, return day.

Anuj: So, you, there’s actually been a lot of talk on the singles side, doubles side about the court resurfacing and what that’s been like. Could you talk to me a little bit about the conditions? Aside from obviously the weather and the sun.

Yuki: I don’t remember how it was back in 2018. I don’t remember that much of a difference. But I generally do enjoy how the courts usually play in the States. They’re usually quite bouncy. The ball comes off well. It’s good speed as well. It’s not very slow. So, just generally, I think all across the States I enjoy playing here and playing, you know, most matches, no matter where they are in the country. But I can’t tell you how if they were any different than last year, the past two or three years, because I think for me it’s a long time ago, of course.

Anuj: So, I mean, I got to actually catch up with Rohan Bopanna who is obviously courtside, and I saw you at several moments talking to him and him giving you a little bit of motivation. What was that like?

Yuki: Yeah, it was great. It was especially not having anyone here, I think, and him watching pretty much the whole match. It’s nice to be able to, you know, with his experience and being here for so long, it’s nice to go back and forth and, you know, ask questions about your game. I mean, he’s obviously seen me play doubles since the last few years now, so. And being a great mentor as well. He knows the game quite well. So, just at times, whenever I can, I try and pick his brain to see where I can improve and what more I could do to help my game.

Anuj: Absolutely, yeah. So, this is a little bit of a personal question in the sense of, I always notice at Indian Wells, a lot of Indian fans come out, you know, obviously in the Bay Area from Los Angeles. They all come here, and there’s always sort of things said from the crowd in Hindi and English in a mix. So, what’s that like getting that sort of almost like local type of support?

Yuki: Yeah, it’s amazing. It means a lot. It motivates you a lot, and we see that very few times of the year. But I think in Indian Wells, in New York as well, it’s great crowd, great support and makes you feel at home. You will always see, obviously, players, when you’re playing in the home conditions or in the home country end up doing well. It’s because really of the support that they have. So it’s great to see so many people also just come out and watch doubles as well. I know it’s been a hot topic, but the crowds have been fantastic. Yesterday’s match as well, with Dodig and Bopanna, it was absolutely packed. I mean, there were no seats available.

Anuj: So I was there.

Yuki: So, yeah, it’s a great atmosphere. And then if you can have some sort of support, it just motivates you to do better and keeps it going.

Anuj: Yeah, that’s great. And now you’re India’s hope in this tournament because unfortunately Rohan lost yesterday. But you’re here now going on to the next round. So best of luck and I hope to see you again after victory later this week.

Yuki: Okay, thank you.