India’s Rohan Bopanna scripts history at Australian Open, becomes oldest Grand Slam doubles champion at 43
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Melbourne: India’s Rohan Bopanna has scripted history at the Australian Open 2024 after he won the men’s doubles title at the Rod Laver Arena with Matthew Ebden on Saturday (Jan 27). Rohan and Ebden beat the Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6, 7-5 as Bopanna became the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title at 43. The victory with Ebden is Bopanna’s first Grand Slam men’s doubles success while overall it is his second Grand Slam title having won the 2017 French Open mixed doubles title.
Having achieved the World No.1 ranking earlier in the week (to be official on Monday), Bopanna scripted history at the Rod Laver arena in his 61st Grand Slam doubles appearance. In a contest that lasted almost 100 minutes, Bopanna and his Australian partner were at their fluent best and did not lose their serve in the entire match.
Both sets were close affairs with Boppana and Ebden going shoulder-to-shoulder with their Italian counterparts. With neither team ready to surrender their serve in the opening set it needed a tiebreaker to separate the pairs. However, Bopanna-Ebden were flawless in the tiebreak and won it without dropping a point to seize early advantage.
The second set was also a close affair but both Bopanna and Ebden gained a break of serve and then held onto their own in a tight contest. The Indo-Australian pair then took full advantage of the break and held on their serve to win the epic final.
Before today’s victory, the 2017 French Open success with Gabriela Dabrowski was the only time the Indian veteran had won a Grand Slam title. Bopanna, now in his twilight, has enjoyed a superb couple of years where he reached the final of the US Open Men’s doubles final and the Wimbledon semis.
At the 2023 Australian Open Bopanna was runners-up in the mixed doubles category along with Sania Mirza with the latter bowing out of the game after the conclusion of the final. He became the oldest player to win a match at the 2023 ATP Finals with Ebden where the pair reached the semifinals.
On Thursday, Bopanna was among six sportspersons named for the Padma Shri award for 2024 by the Indian government.
