At 43 years of age, India's became the oldest-ever men's Grand Slam main event winner, when he, along with his partner Matthew Ebden, beat Italian duo Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the men's doubles Final at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, January 27, 2024. (More Tennis News)
Earlier in the week, Bopanna was guaranteed to become the oldest tennis player to secure a number one rank in the standings. His coronation is expected to happen mere days after his win. In Melbourne, on Saturday, Bopanna broke the record set by Jean-Julien Rojer, who had lifted the French Open men's doubles championship in 2022 with Marcelo Arevola aged 40.
The second-seeded pairing at AO 2024, Bopanna-Ebden had been utterly dominant en route to the final. However, they met their match in the trophy bout, with the Italian duo stretching them all the way to a tiebreaker in the first set. Bopanna-Ebden's class shone through in the first-to-seven race, which they won 7-0 to take a set lead.
The second set nearly followed the same road as the first, with the two pairs tied on five games each towards the end. But, a crucial break in the penultimate game allowed Bopanna and Ebden to serve for the match, which they subsequently did with aplomb. The match lasted an hour and 39 minutes in total.
Bopanna, Ebden won the Men's Doubles Final, 7-6 (7-0), 7-5. In the process, Bopanna became the latest Indian tennis star to win a Grand Slam, following in the footsteps of Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Sania Mirza.
For Bopanna, this is the first Australian Open title in any category and his second victory in a Grand Slam event. He won the mixed doubles title at the French Open in 2017 with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski.
Addressing the crowd after the match, Bopanna had this to say: 바카라My beautiful wife, Supriya, & my daughter, Tridha.. thank you for all the support, all the love. I know a couple years ago I sent her a video message & said 바카라I바카라m gonna call it a day.바카라 Because I wasn바카라t winning matches at all. I went 5 months without winning a match. I thought that was gonna be the end of my journey. Perseverance inside me just kept me going. I really changed so many things & found a wonderful partner.
바카라As Matt said, you definitely know how old I am. I바카라ve changed it a bit & said I바카라m at level 43, not age 43. Obviously this couldn바카라t have been possible without a fantastic Aussie partner by my side. Thanks to Matt. We had a fantastic season last year. For me to win my first men바카라s doubles Grand Slam here at the Asian pacific Grand Slam, it바카라s totally a home slam,바카라 Bopanna added.
