Australian Open: Rohan Bopanna became the oldest tennis player to win a Slam

The Indian Rohan Bopanna On Saturday he became the oldest tennis player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles event: at 43 years and 329 dayshe won the specialty title at the Australian Open paired with the Australian Matthew Ebden after beating the Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the final 7-6 (7-0) and 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

“Decidedly, this is the best moment of my career. There are so many thoughts running through my head, it’s about to explode with so many things.said Bopanna, who highlighted the chemistry achieved with Ebden as the key to this result: “There’s no better player to do it with. “After the year we had in 2023, it’s great to continue and start like this this year, winning a Slam.”.

The Australian took the glove and was full of praise for the man who has been with him on the pitch since January 2023. “It was an incredible tournament. Thanks to my amazing partner. He is 43 years old and it is his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title. For him, age isn’t even a number. He is young at heart. He is a champion and a warrior. “He fought hard alongside me last year and I will be forever grateful to him, his incredible team and his family.”he underlined.

In this Saturday’s final, Bopanna and Ebden dominated the match serving for the entire match, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, winning 80% of the points with the first serve and without even giving his opponents a break opportunity.

The Indian and the Australian showed their best tennis in the crucial moments of the duel. They showed great depth in their response by winning the first set tie break (this was the seventh tie-break they played in the tournament and they won them all) and in the second they got the decisive break in the eleventh game. Thus, the second places of the competition were left with a victory that they celebrated by beating their chest, a celebration that was immortalized by the American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

Bopanna managed to pull the plug and celebrate a Grand Slam title after losing the US Open finals in 2010 (paired with Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi) and 2023 (with Ebden). He thus became the third Indian in the Open era to win a major tournament in men’s doubles: the previous ones were Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.

As if that wasn’t enough, On Monday his name will appear first in the ATP specialty rankings. Bopanna, a professional for 21 seasons, will thus become the oldest number one in history.

For Ebden, 36 years old, what he won this Saturday was his second Grand Slam title: he had already been champion at Wimbledon 2022 paired with compatriot Max Purcell. The win alongside Bopanna also made him the 28th local tennis player to win the Australian Open men’s doubles crown.