Alternates at Australian Open: Jeevan-Balaji duo finds joy at ‘Happy Slam’

Australian Open 2023: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji knocked out fifth seeds and 2022 French Open finalists, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of USA, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 in the men’s doubles first round.

FILE PHOTO: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (left) and N Sriram Balaji (right) beat fifth seeds and 2022 French Open finalists, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of USA, in the opening round of the 2023 Australian Open on Saturday. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Two weeks after a dream run at the Tata Open Maharashtra with a runner-up finish after entering as alternates, the all-Indian pair of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N Sriram Balaji made the most of another last-minute passage into the main draw of a tournament.

However, unlike the ATP250 event in Pune, this came on one of the biggest stages as the duo knocked out fifth seeds and 2022 French Open finalists, Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Austin Krajicek of USA, 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.

How they got into the main draw

Jeevan and Balaji were ninth on the list of alternates for the first Major of the year. However, with some pairs above them receiving wildcards and others withdrawing from the main draw, the two Indians were one spot away from making their Grand Slam debut as a pair.

Dodig and Krajicek were supposed to face the wildcard American-Brazilian duo of Mackenzie McDonald and Marcelo Melo in the opening round. But McDonald, who defeated defending champion Rafael Nadal in the second round in singles, pulled out from doubles after an injury during his third-round loss to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. Jeevan and Balaji were in.

“It was a leap of faith. It’s a lot of belief in what we can do and honestly, I just wanted to give it a shot because I would hate [not] to be here and know that some team that’s not combining as high as us gets into a Grand Slam. So, we just took a shot and said ‘I’m not up to much else in January, so might as well go to Melbourne, Bala,’” Jeevan, the 34-year-old southpaw, told Sony Sports Network after the first-round win. Their second-round opponents will be Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin.

Six-year wait ends for Jeevan

By the time the duo stepped onto Court 7 at Melbourne Park, they were the last two Indians remaining in men’s doubles. The other all-Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni, and Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan with their respective partners had suffered defeats in the first round in the last two days.

Jeevan had his serve broken early, but the duo recovered quickly to get the break back in the sixth game on the Croatian’s serve before clinching the first set in the tiebreak. Krajicek and Dodig, World No. 9 and 10 respectively, bounced back to dominate the second set and bag it 6-2.

However, in the deciding third set, the Indians saved all three break points they faced and converted the only opportunity they got on the American’s serve in the seventh game. Jeevan, who hails from Chennai and is the grandson of former acting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu V.R. Nedunchezhiyan, got his first Grand Slam win, six years after making his debut at the 2017 Wimbledon.

The origins

“We know each other since we were 12-14 years olds and it’s fantastic to play with your very close friend. You know about their plus and minus and everything works well. Both the families know each other, so good support from them also,” 32-year-old Balaji had said after the duo had just won their quarterfinal in Pune.

Jeevan and Balaji, who hails from Coimbatore, had first played together at a Futures event at home in 2007. Vishnu Vardhan, who paired up with Leander Paes for London Olympics, was Balaji’s doubles partner for the most part from 2015 to 2019, with the highlight being a second-round finish at 2018 Wimbledon.

However, after the pair’s split, it took Balaji quite some time to find a new regular partner before eventually reuniting with Jeevan. From May 2022, the two, who had previously paired up for some events, went through the grind on the Challenger Tour, playing 19 events and winning two titles - Bratislava (Slovakia) and Blois (France).

Aim was clay

After their runner-up finish in Pune, both Balaji and Jeevan were on the cusp of breaking into the ATP Top 100 in doubles and seemed well on their way to achieving the target for the season. “Our short-term goal is to play the French Open. We are looking forward to making the cut for it. We had a target of making so many points in a certain number of weeks and this gives us a very good start,” Balaji had said after losing the final against Belgians Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille.

Well, they call the Australian Open the ‘Happy Slam’ for a reason.