Bopanna, 43, set to become oldest World No. 1 in men’s doubles after reaching Australian Open semifinals

Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated the sixth-seeded all-Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals.

FILE PHOTO: Rohan Bopanna. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Rohan Bopanna, 43, is set to become the oldest World No. 1 in men’s doubles after reaching the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated the sixth-seeded all-Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals. The result takes Bopanna past USA’s Austin Krajicek, the current World No. 1, in the ATP Rankings. Krajicek and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig were eliminated in the second round.

“It’s been incredible. Twenty years of being in this sport, playing these tournaments week in, week out and today, reaching the number one ranking. It’s an extremely amazing and proud feeling. It probably hasn’t sunk in fully yet but yes, credit to the entire team. From the family, coach, physio to everyone behind the scenes who plays such a huge important role and always keeping me positive. Of course, my partner Matthew Ebden,” said Bopanna after the win.

“Indian tennis needed this. I’m really happy to be representing India across the world. In this tennis journey, there’s been so much of love and support from the entire country for two decades.”

The Indo-Australian duo broke Gonzalez’ serve in the fifth game while saving the solitary break point it faced on Ebden’s serve in the eighth game. The second seeds then edged their opponents in the second set after being down by a mini-break in the tiebreaker.

@rohanbopanna getting to World Number 1 today after 20 years on tour in my opinion is one of the greatest stories in Indian Sport!!! @AustralianOpen#Bofors

— Mahesh Bhupathi (@Maheshbhupathi) January 24, 2024

Bopanna and Ebden will next take on the Czech-Chinese pair of Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang in the semifinals.

Bopanna is the fourth Indian player to be ranked No. 1 in doubles after Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza. He has a Grand Slam title in mixed doubles - won at French Open in 2017 with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. In men’s doubles, he has twice finished runner-up at the US Open - in 2010 with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Quresh and 2023 with Ebden. The latter made him the oldest-ever Grand Slam finalist.

He also holds the record for being the oldest player to win a men’s doubles title at a Masters event, which he achieved at Indian Wells last year at the age of 43 with Ebden.