Bhambri-Olivetti crashes out of semifinal in Marrakech Open

Marrakech, Morocco: Yuki Bhambri of India and his French partner Albano Olivetti lost a hard match against Austria's Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler, the second seeds, in the semifinals of the ATP Marrakech Open.

The unseeded Indian-French duo was defeated 5-7 6-3 7-10 in an exhausting match in the ATP 250 event's last four.

Bhambri and Olivetti had earlier knocked out third seeds Nicholas Barrientos and Rafael Matos to breeze into the men’s doubles semifinals.

It was a closely contested affair between the two pairs in the semifinals. After Miedler and Erler took the opening set, Bhambri and Olivetti made a remarkable comeback to draw level.

There was no let-up in the decider as the contest went down to the wire, where Miedler and Erler sealed the contest in the tie-breaker.

Bhambri has teamed up with Olivetti for the first time this season, having played with Dutchman Robin Haase in most of the tournaments.

The Indian had paired with former partner Michael Venus from New Zealand at the Miami Masters where they made a first-round exit.

Bhambri’s best performance of the season came at ATP 500 Dubai, whereas qualifiers the Indian and Haase reached the semifinals, earning crucial 225 ranking points.

Ranked 62, the 31-year-old Bhambri is India’s second-highest-ranked player behind world number one Rohan Bopanna.

It will be interesting to see if Bopanna chooses Bhambri as his partner for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Bopanna being a top-10 player will have the choice of selecting his partner.

With PTI inputs