Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna shall be topped because the World No 1 in males’s doubles after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open alongside along with his associate Matthew Ebden on Wednesday. Bopanna would be the oldest participant to grow to be World No 1, beating the document set by USA’s Rajeev Ram, who reached the rating summit in October 2022 on the age of 38.
The 43-year-old Bopanna paired with Ebden to brush apart the sixth seeds from Argentina Máximo González and Andrés Molteni in straight units 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a quarterfinal that lasted an hour and 46 minutes. Up subsequent for Bopanna and Ebden are the unseeded Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang.
Bopanna will thus grow to be solely the fourth Indian after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza to take the world primary rank in doubles.
Rohan Bopanna & Mark Ebden storm into the #AO2024 semis with a straight units win over their 🇦🇷 opponents 🙌
One more feather within the cap of an excellent profession for .@RohanBopanna – the semis beckon tomorrow! #AusOpen #GreatnessStartsHere #SonyLIV pic.twitter.com/lxLZp0ynU4
— Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) January 24, 2024
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“It’s been an unimaginable 20 years taking part in this match week in, week out, and as we speak, reaching the No 1 rating, it’s a particularly superb and proud feeling. It most likely hasn’t sunk in totally but however nonetheless credit score to your complete workforce. These final 13 months have been an extremely constant sort of a yr. I’m proud to be the place I’m as we speak, on the rating of no. 1. So, India wanted this, Indian tennis wanted this. I’m actually comfortable to be representing India internationally on this tennis journey. There’s a lot love and help from your complete nation for twenty years. I’m grateful for all of the help. I feel, that is from my aspect, giving again to everybody in India,” Bopanna was quoted as saying after his quarter-final victory.
“World No.1 appears to be like good on you, Bopsy. Thanks for at all times inspiring us,” tweeted Sumit Nagal, who himself scripted historical past on the ongoing Australian Open after reaching the second spherical by defeating twenty seventh seed Alexander Bublik, thereby changing into the primary Indian since Ramesh Krishnan in 1989 to beat a seeded participant within the singles important draw of a Grand Slam.
Prior to now, Bopanna has claimed the combined doubles title on the French Open in 2017 partnering Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. However in males’s doubles at Grand Slams, he has come near securing it twice, earlier than narrowly lacking out: he was the runner-up on the US Open in 2010 with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and with Ebden final yr (the place he had grow to be the oldest-ever Grand Slam finalist).
It have to be famous that Bopanna is the oldest participant to assert a males’s doubles title at a Masters 1000 occasion: reaching the feat in 2023, aged 43, when he paired with Ebden to win the celebrated Indian Wells match.