Bhambri to begin French Open debut against Bemelmans

Indian tennis ace Yuki Bhambri will aim to kick start his campaign at the French Open on a winning note when he locks horns with 111th-ranked Ruben Bemelmans in the opening round of the tournament here on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old had earlier qualified for the main draw of the Roland Garros for the first time after winning the Chinese Taipei Challenger title with straight sets win over compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Bhambri, who had earlier also qualified for the main draw of Australian Open in January, is now all set to make his fourth Grand Slam main round appearance and his French Open debut.

Bemelmans, on the other hand, made it to the main draw as a lucky loser after Bhambri's original first-round opponent Yen-Hsun Lu decided to withdraw from the clay court major.

It should be noted that Bhambri and Bemelmans had previously faced each other only once during the New Delhi Challenger in 2015, when the Indian eked out a thrilling three-set win over the Belgian.

While Bhambri has not played any tournament on the red dirt before coming to Paris, Bemelmans did appear in three rounds in qualifying and has got pretty used to the Roland Garros surface.

Recently, Bhambri, who recently broke back into the top-100 in the ATP men's singles chart for the first time since February 2016, was recommended for the prestigious Arjuna Award.