Mumbai (Maharashtra), [India], September 5 (ANI): Indian tennis star Yuki Bhambri spoke on the excitement and motivation his semifinal run last year in the men's doubles competition gave him, saying that for him it was a 'breakthrough moment' and he looks to go out there and perform. 

Yuki and Michael Venus will take on Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac in the US Open 2026 Men's Doubles round one today, 8:30 PM onwards. 

Last year, Yuki made it to the semifinals with Venus. On his run last year, Yuki said to JioStar, 'I think it is a bit of a mental switch, having made a deep run and being quite close to making the final last year. So, I have fond memories from last year, making it to the semi-finals. I have had good success in both singles and doubles as well. Obviously, last year was spectacular for me and a bit of a breakthrough moment. So, I'm looking forward to going out there again. I am excited; it is the last Slam of the year, and I'm definitely excited to come out and perform."

Yuki said that he loves coming to New York and it is 'one of his favourite cities'. 

'I have had a bunch of vacations here, but I cannot get enough of New York. So, yeah, it is the best place in the world to play tennis. Coming from a big city like Delhi and seeing all the people around, as well as getting all the support, is great. Obviously, it is a great crowd over here, with a lot of Indians coming out and supporting. It is absolutely electric. Sometimes, you go out there on Ashe and watch a match just to feed off the crowd. It is fun. There is nothing like any other city, and hopefully, we can keep coming back and performing well,' he said. 

The Indian veteran said that he and Venus will take the tournament match-by-match and feel they can go deep again. 

'We obviously have a tough first round against two local Americans. We have already seen so many upsets, so you can't really look past the first round. Every match is tough. Ideally, you would want to go all the way, but I think we have got to focus on each match and see how it goes,' he said. (ANI)