I don’t live in the past; I love the fact that I now have a shot at winning Tour titles: Yuki Bhambri Premium

Yuki Bhambri transitions to doubles, aiming for more titles in 2025 after overcoming injuries in singles career.

When Yuki Bhambri won the Australian Open junior singles title in 2009, he was India’s biggest tennis hope. But over the next decade, Bhambri, who peaked at No. 83 in singles, stumbled from one injury to another and his otherwise fine court-craft never reached a crescendo.

Now, as a 32-year-old, he is back on his feet and enjoying his time on the court, albeit as a practitioner of the less intense art of doubles. In fact, 2024 was the first year he did not play even one professional singles match and his once brittle body has given him an emphatic thumbs up.

At 48, he is the second-highest-ranked Indian doubles player, after Rohan Bopanna, and last season, with Frenchman Albano Olivetti, he won two ATP Tour-level titles (third overall) and reached two other finals. In an interview with The Hindu, Bhambri discusses his transition to doubles, the state of his tennis and his dreams for the future. Excerpts:

How will you describe your 2024 season?

I would probably say I didn’t start off well, but ended well. Going into the Australian Open and not winning matches [three consecutive first-round defeats including Melbourne] to reaching the semifinals at an ATP 500 in Dubai and then getting the first clay-court title [ATP 250, Munich]… I am happy about that. I still think there were opportunities for us as a team to do better, especially in the Slams. So that’s something we are targeting for 2025, to go a step further and make breakthroughs in the bigger events.

You’ve been in and around the top-60 since mid-2023, and top-50 since July 2024. What has this period told you as a player?

Like you mentioned, I am just making those small strides. The higher you go, the more difficult it gets and you don’t see as many big jumps [in rankings] as you would [early on]. It just shows that I’m on the right path. Rankings don’t lie and tennis rewards consistency. You’ve to play the whole year, the 19 best events well, and that determines where you’re at. It gives you confidence that you are doing the right things, and that’s what I take from this. I hope I can keep moving forward in this direction and make those breakthroughs and small gains even in 2025.