Niki Poonacha earns Grand Slam doubles debu

CHENGDU (CHINA): India’s Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha earned the biggest breakthrough of his career on Friday, securing a main-draw wild card for the 2026 Australian Open men’s doubles after winning the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff with Thailand’s Pruchya Isaro.

Poonacha and Isaro produced a composed performance throughout the week and sealed the berth with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Japanese duo Seita Kusuhara and Katsuki Nakagawa in the final to seal their spot at Melbourne Park.

The victory assures the 30-year-old Indian a Grand Slam main-draw debut, marking a significant milestone for a player who has spent most of his professional journey on the ATP Challenger and ITF circuits.

Poonacha, who achieved a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 98 last year and owns six Challenger doubles titles, has been pushing consistently for a breakthrough at the elite level. The wildcard now offers him a rare opportunity to compete on one of the sport’s biggest stages and test his game against established world-class pairs.

For Indian tennis, Poonacha’s qualification adds another promising name to the pool of players breaking into Grand Slam doubles, a domain in which the country has traditionally been strong.

Sumit Nagal also competed in the singles event of the regional play-off but could not go beyond the quarterfinals in 16-player draw.

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on January 12.