N Sriram Balaji and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela crashed out of the Australian Open 2025 men’s doubles after a three-set loss to Portuguese pair Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral at Melbourne Park on Saturday. The defeat ended Balaji and Reyes-Varela’s run in the second round and also confirmed the end of India’s men’s doubles campaign at the season’s first Grand Slam.
Balaji and Reyes-Varela went down 7(7)-6(1), 4-6, 6-3 in a match that swung on tight moments early and a decisive break in the final set. With India’s other men’s doubles teams already eliminated earlier in the week, the result mattered beyond this pairing, closing the door on Indian representation in the men’s doubles draw at Australian Open 2025.
How the match turned: missed chances, then a late break
The opening set was defined by slim margins. Balaji and Reyes-Varela created two chances to break Borges and Cabral in the second game but could not convert. They later saved a break point in the 11th game, keeping the set on serve as the Portuguese pair held in the next game to force a tie-break.
In the tie-break, Borges and Cabral took control, with Balaji and Reyes-Varela losing it 7-1. Dropping a set via a one-sided breaker put immediate pressure on the Indo-Mexican duo, but they responded well at the start of the second set.
Balaji, who is ranked 65th in the ATP doubles rankings, and Reyes-Varela bounced back by breaking Borges and Cabral in the opening game of the second set. They then faced resistance in the fourth game, where they saved two break points, before consolidating their serve through the remainder of the set to level the match at one set apiece.
The decider remained tight until the fourth game, when Balaji and Reyes-Varela were broken and Borges and Cabral moved ahead 3-1. From there, the Portuguese pair held serve for the rest of the match, closing out the contest after two match-point opportunities to seal the third set 6-3.
The result underlined how quickly momentum can shift in doubles at the highest level: early missed break chances in the first set, a strong second-set recovery, and then one break in the final set proving enough to decide the match.
India’s men’s doubles results across the draw
Balaji and Reyes-Varela’s second-round exit also marked the end of India’s men’s doubles campaign at Australian Open 2025. Earlier in the week, Rohan Bopanna and Colombia’s Nicolas Barrientos were knocked out in the first round after losing to Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.
Yuki Bhambri and his French partner Albano Olivetti also exited in the opening round, losing 6-2, 7(7)-6(3) to Australian wildcards Tristan Schoolkate and Adam Walton. In another first-round result involving an Indian player, Rithvik Bollipalli and American partner Ryan Seggerman were beaten by sixth seeds Henry Patten of the United Kingdom and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara.
Mixed doubles keeps India’s Australian Open 2025 hopes alive
While the men’s doubles draw no longer features Indian players, India’s mixed doubles challenge remains active. Rohan Bopanna and his mixed doubles partner Zhang Shuai of China advanced to the second round on Friday, keeping Indian interest alive at Melbourne Park.
Bopanna and Zhang won their first-round match 6-4, 6-4 against French player Kristina Mladenovic and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig. Their progress offers India a continuing storyline at the tournament even as the men’s doubles campaign has concluded.
For Balaji and Reyes-Varela, the focus will shift to what comes next after a hard-fought second-round defeat that featured both a strong response and a decisive late setback against a Portuguese team that executed the key points in the opener and the final set.