After performing good at Indian Wells, Yuki Bhambri feels he belongs in the big leagues

Yesterday, Bhambri’s incredible journey at Indian Wells came to an end with a third-round loss to 18th seed Sam Querrey 7-6(4), 4-6, 4-6. The Indian put up a tough fight against Querrey but unfortunately, his run in the tournament ended after an engaging 2 hours and 22 minutes. Before the match against Querrey, the Indian had registered victories against veteran Nicolas Mahut and World No. 12 Lucas Pouille and the wins increased his confidence which reflected in his statement in which he had said that now he had gained the ability to challenge the game’s experienced names on bigger platforms.

Ahead of the start of the tournament, Bhambri had kept his expectations to a minimum and was only thinking of qualifying to the main draw but after the upsets that he inflicted, he has moved closer to breaking into the top 100. The Indian player believes that expecting less from himself made his way easy in the tournament.

“So to get to qualifying and win at least a round in the main draw, which I hadn’t done at Masters before, was the goal. Once I pulled off the second round, I didn’t think about how far I can go, but just focus on what I could do.”

Not just on the court, Bhambri has been working hard behind the scenes as well to give him the best chance of winning when he steps onto the court. He, along with long term coach Steve Koon, has been working to come up with strategies to beat his opponents in the major events.

Bhambri’s next assignment is to play in the qualifiers of the Miami Masters and after his tremendous run at the Indian Wells, he is looking to improve his record in the upcoming tournament.

“When I got the wild card, I was 17-18, at the time and I wasn’t ready. Now things are different. I’ve done it at ATP 250s, the 500s. Now even at a Masters.”