US Open 2025: History in the making? Yuki Bhambri edges closer to 'dream' final with semis ticket

Indian tennis sensation Yuki Bhambri and his Kiwi partner Michael Venus have continued their historic run, now advancing to the men's doubles semifinals at the US Open 2025 on Wednesday.They defeated the 11th seeds Nikola Mektic and Rajeev Ram in a stunning victory of 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 at Court 17 in New York.33-year-old Bhambri, who holds the 32nd position in the world doubles rankings, stands as India's top-ranked player in the category. This semifinal appearance marks his first in any Grand Slam doubles event.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!His previous US Open performance peaked at the pre-quarterfinals in 2024, where he competed with French player Albano Olivetti.Bhambri could become the first Indian US Open champion since 2015, following Leander Paes's mixed doubles victory and Sania Mirza's women's doubles title that year."It is every person's dream when they hold a tennis racket. When you go out there, that is what you want to do. This is what you have seen on TV. My idols growing up were Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. You see them do it. That is one of the reasons why I picked up a tennis racket, watching them win the US Open, watching them win Wimbledon," Bhambri recently said during an interview with JioHotstar. "When you go out there, winning a Grand Slam is obviously a dream to accomplish. That is what all of us out there are trying to do. We are putting our best foot forward and hope one day we can achieve that."The semifinal contest will pit Bhambri and Venus against British duo Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury on Friday.Other Indian players have encountered setbacks at Flushing Meadows this year. Rohan Bopanna, aged 44 and Australian Open champion, along with Monaco's Romain Arneodo, exited in the first round. Arjun Kadhe and Ecuador's Diego Hidalgo also suffered a first-round elimination.The Indian pairing of Anirudh Chandrasekar and Vijay Sundar Prashanth lost to Brazil's Fernando Romboli and Australia's John-Patrick Smith with scores of 6-4, 6-3.