Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna capped off a sensational fortnight in Melbourne with a historic win at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday. Partnering with Australia’s Matthew Ebden, the second-seeded team overcame Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0), 7-5 to clinch the Australian Open men’s doubles crown. With his maiden Grand Slam win in the category, Bopanna, 43, became the oldest-ever man in the Open Era to win a major. He broke the record of Jean-Julien Rojer, who won the 2022 French Open men’s doubles title with Marcelo Arevola at the age of 40.
Bopanna’s achievement left 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, who skipped the Australian Open tournament after incurring ‘micro tear’ on his hip muscle earlier this month at the Brisbane International, in complete awe. The Spaniard labeled the victory as a “unique” feat.
Sharing an Instagram story on Sunday, Nadal wrote: “Congrats Rohan on an amazing and unique achievement!”
This was Bopanna’s first major in men’s doubles, having lost in the 2010 and 2023 US Open finals. Overall, it was his second career Grand Slam, adding to his 2017 French Open mixed doubles haul, which he won alongside Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski. He also became the third Indian player in the Open Era to win a Slam men’s doubles title, joining Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
“Without a doubt the best moment in my career,” Bopanna said. “I mean, there are so many thoughts which are running in the head. It’s ready to explode, having so many things going on. With the year we had last year, to continue and start off like this and win a Grand Slam, no better player to do it with.”
Bopanna and Ebden dominated the proceedings on serve throughout the one-hour, 40-minute clash, winning 8- per cent of points behind their first landing and did not face a break point. Having missed the opportunity to break their Italian opponents, the second seed did not concede a point in the first set tiebreak. The pair then broke serve late in the second set to secure their first Slam title as a team.