Rohan Bopanna Makes History At 43, Becomes Oldest Men's Tennis Grand Slam Champion
India's Rohan Bopanna and Australian Matthew Ebden clinched the Australian Open men's doubles title on Saturday with a 7-6(0) 7-5 victory over Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
The second seeds celebrated on the ground after defeating their Italian opponents and saluted the crowd at the Rod Laver Arena.
Oldest male player to win a Grand Slam title??
At 43, Bopanna became the oldest male player to win a Grand Slam title. This win marked his first success in Australia after 17 consecutive Opens, losing in the mixed doubles final last year and 2018.
"Age truly really is not even a number for this guy. He's young at heart, he's a champion, he's a warrior. He's fought hard by my side this whole past year," shared Ebden.
Bolelli and Vavassori got off to a good start in the opening set and had their first break point at 5-5. However, the Indian-Australian pair saved the serve and, with the crowd's support, won the tiebreak easily.
?The second set looked to be headed the same way. It was going with serve and locked at 5-5 until Vavassori's serve was broken, leaving Ebden to serve for the match.
Rohan Bopanna praises 'fantastic Aussie partner'
"This could not have been possible if I did not have a fantastic Aussie partner by my side," emphasized Bopanna.
This is the duo's first major victory; they lost last year in the US Open final.?
When the rankings are updated on Monday, Bopanna will be ranked as the world number one, whereas Ebden will be at the number two spot as he has played three more tournaments during the ranking period.
Ebden won the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2013 and the Wimbledon men's doubles in 2022, while Bopanna won the 2017 French Open mixed doubles.
Rohan Bopanna's career
Rohan Bopanna, originally from Karnataka, embarked on his tennis journey at the age of 11 and turned professional at 19.?While he entered the professional circuits in 2000, his breakthrough came in 2002 with inclusion in India's Davis Cup team and his debut at the Asian Games.?
Bopanna's Grand Slam journey began in 2006, focusing more on doubles play. He partnered with Eric Butorac to get his first ATP Tour title in 2008.?
Notably, his partnership with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi earned them the nickname "Indo-Pak Express. " They reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and?the US Open final in 2010.?
By 2013,?Bopanna attained a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 3. With over two decades in tennis, he boasts 24 doubles titles, including a historic victory at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, marking him the oldest winner at the Masters 1000 level.??
Anand Mahindra draws inspiration from Bopanna's win?
After his first Australian Open title win, Bopanna was praised by Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group.
He praised Bopanna for his historic achievement and mentioned that the player inspired him to pick up the tennis racket once again and return to the tennis court.
?"Hey Rohan Bopanna, you've inspired me to go fiercely back on the Tennis courts again...no matter how tired my game is. Thank you for demonstrating so clearly that age is, indeed, just a number," wrote Anand Mahindra on X, formerly Twitter.??
Social media abuzz with?Bopanna's win?
Social media users were highly pleased with?Bopanna's emphatic win,?highlighting that "Age is just a number." Here's how people on the internet showered their love for the?Tennis maestro.
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