N Sriram Balaji made a strong case for his inclusion in the Indian men’s doubles team for the Paris Olympics along with Rohan Bopanna by logging his maiden win at the French Open, but Yuki Bhambri made a first round exit here on Friday.

Yuki and Albano Olivetti lost 3-6 6-7(5) to John Peers and Roman Safiullin. Balaji combined well with Mexicao’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela Martinez for a 6-3 6-4 win over American Reese Stalder and Dutch player Sem Verbeek.