Rohan Bopanna oldest Grand Slam champion
Rohan Bopanna on Saturday became the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open Era when he, along with partner Matthew Ebden of Australia, won the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open.
By reaching the semi-final, he also became the world’s oldest number 1 in doubles, and number 1 for the second time, after last year.
At 43 years 329 days, this was also Bopanna’s, or ‘Bops’ as he is nicknamed, first Grand Slam doubles title, and only his second Grand Slam title (after the 2017 French Open crown with Gabriela Dabrowski).
Despite playing for so long, Grand Slam titles, the pinnacle of achievement in tennis, have eluded the 6 ft 4 in player from the Coorg region of Karnataka, though he has been in a few finals.
At 43 years (almost 44 years), however, he is also far fitter than 10 years back, according to all those who have been following him for long. And having won the first doubles Grand Slam, his hunger for more would surely grow bigger.
He is already thinking of the Paris Olympics this year, though the low rankings of the other Indian doubles players means none of the possible pairs would be able to get entry into higher-lever tournaments before the event, which is important for preparation.
Today’s Rohan Bopanna is a far cry from the Rohan Bopanna of 2019, when constant pain, especially in the knees, made him almost consider quitting. Bur, according to him, Iyengar Yoga, which he got into during the pandemic, made all the difference, which is there for all to see.
