At the age of 43 years, 10 months and 23 days, Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna scripted history by becoming the oldest tennis player to win a Grand Slam in men’s doubles, courtesy of his Australian Open triumph alongside his Australian partner, Matthew Ebden.
Bopanna, who recently made another record by becoming the oldest player to achieve a world number one ranking in doubles, is now also the oldest male tennis player to win a Grand Slam, beating the record of the Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer, who won the 2022 French Open men’s doubles title at the age of 40.
The Indo-Australian trio of Bopanna and Ebden defeated the all-Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (0-7), 7-5 in the final at the Rod Laver Arena.
This was also Bopanna’s maiden men’s doubles Grand Slam title. Previously, he had reached the final of the US Open on two occasions – back in 2010 alongside Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, and in 2023 alongside Ebden.
Bopanna’s solitary Grand Slam triumph was at the 2017 French Open. In mixed doubles, the Karnataka-born player teamed up with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski to beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah.
In the Open Era of tennis, Martina Navratilova holds the record of being the oldest Grand Slam winner. At the age of 49, the former Czech-American player won the 2006 US Open mixed doubles title alongside Bob Bryan.
Bopanna is overall the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title after Paes, Bhupathi and Mirza and is now on the list of the star tennis players who have also been awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award on Thursday.
How the Match Unfolded
Bopanna and Ebden were dominant on serve throughout the one-hour, 40-minute clash, winning 80 per cent (40/50) of points behind their first delivery and not facing a break point to cap a dream week.
Bopanna, who had won his first Grand Slam title, the mixed doubles title alongside Gabriela Dabrowski at the French Open in 2017, and Ebden produced their best tennis at the crucial stages. They found great depth on return in the first-set tie-break to storm ahead before they gained the crucial break of the second set in the 11th game. The second seeds Bopanna and Ebden won all seven tie-breaks they played at the hard-court major.
The Indian-Australian team bumped chests following match point, a celebration associated with Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and also American greats Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan before they sunk to the ground. Bopanna and Ebden then returned to their feet to soak in the roars from the crowd.
(With inputs from IANS)
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