Yuki Bhambri set to become India’s new doubles No. 1 after toppling Rohan Bopanna

Yuki Bhambri is all set to become India’s new doubles No. 1 after defeating Rohan Bopanna at the Miami Open 2025 in Florida on Sunday.

The 32-year-old Bhambri will officially become the top Indian tennis player in the ATP doubles rankings at the end of the Miami Open.

India’s Yuki Bhambri and his Portuguese partner Nuno Borges beat Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in the round of 32.

The Indo-Portuguese duo will face Czechia’s Adam Pavlásek and the United Kingdom’s Jamie Murray in the pre-quarterfinals.

The victory on Sunday saw Yuki Bhambri move up to 29th in the live ATP doubles rankings, while the 45-year-old Bopanna fell to 43.

A two-time Grand Slam champion and 26-time winner on the ATP Tour, Bopanna was the defending champion at the Miami Open, having won the title with Matthew Ebden in 2024.

The 45-year-old Bopanna had held India’s doubles No.1 spot since October 7, 2019, before Bhambri brought the Indian tennis legend’s incredible 286-week reign at the top to an end.

Yuki Bhambri has been in a rich vein of form recently and won his first-ever ATP 500 title earlier this month at the Dubai Tennis Championships 2025, partnering Alexei Popyrin of Australia.

Bhambri and Popyrin came from a set down and saved four match points before beating Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten, the reigning US Open and Australian Open doubles tennis champions, 3-6, 7-6(12), 10-8 in the final.

Bhambri and Ivan Dodig also knocked out top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic from the Qatar Open last month.

The 2009 Australian Open junior boys champion, Bhambri was also once the Indian singles No. 1.

Bhambri broke into the top 100 in ATP singles tennis rankings twice, peaking at 83 in April 2018 before choosing to focus solely on doubles in 2023.

Apart from his recent Dubai Tennis Championships success, Bhambri has three ATP titles at the 250 level.

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