Rohan Bopanna Scripts History At 43
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2024-01-27 15:52:07
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
At 43, most athletes would have long retired and entered sports administration or broadcasting or started enjoying life outside sports. But for Rohan Bopanna, age is just a number. Supremely fit, Bopanna created history when he won the Australian Open men's doubles title with Matthew Ebden to become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era. Earlier, he was also assured the number one doubles ranking in the world after the pair had won the semifinals. Another record that Bopanna created was winning a doubles Grand Slam title after most attempts - he got it in his 61st attempt.
Bopanna has been on the tennis circuit since 2003 when he turned professional. He won his first ATP title in 2008 when he won the men's doubles at Los Angeles Open with Eric Butorac. Since then, he has won an Asian Games gold and 24 ATP doubles titles. He has also played for India in the Davis Cup.
Bopanna, who has no cartilage in his knees as they have completely worn out, credits yoga, which he started practicing during the pandemic disruption, for his fitness. He said that he would be immensely happy if not only tennis players or other athletes but all people over 40 all over the world take inspiration from his success at this age.
For the record, Bopanna-Ebden beat the Italian pair of Bolelli-Vavassori 7-6, 7-5 in a fiercely competitive, high quality match that lasted one hour and 39 minutes.
