Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna has reached his ninth semifinal in Men’s Doubles at the ATP Tour this season. The 42-year old, along with his partner Matthew Ebden made it to the last-four stage at the Paris Masters 2023 on Friday, 3rd November 2023.
The third seeded pair defeated fifth seeded duo Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers in the quarterfinal. With the victory, Bopanna and Ebden avenged their Shanghai Masters final loss against Zeballos and Granollers.
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43-year old Bopanna is showing no signs of slowing down despite his age as he has had one of the best seasons on the tour in 2023.
With two titles under his kitty and having finished as runner-up in four tournaments, he has risen to World No.5 in the Mens’ Doubles rankings. Here is a breakdown of his performance so far this year.
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Rohan Bopanna’s performance in 2023
- Bopanna started the year by pairing up with Ebden at the Adelaide International and Australian Open. They suffered first round exits in both the tournaments.
- After these two disappointing shows, they gave a terrific comeback in the tour. They managed to reach successive finals in ATP Rotterdam and Qatar Open.
- After a runner-up finish in ATP Rotterdam, Bopanna and Ebden won their first title this year at Qatar.
- They then went on to lift the Indian Wells Masters title. The unseeded pair defeated top seeds Neal Skupski amd Wesley Koolhof in the final.
- A successful tour of Spain followed for the pair. They reached the semifinal at Barcelona. Then finished as runner-up at the Madrid Open, losing the final against Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.
- Consistent appearances in the semis and quarterfinal followed in the subsequent tours. Bopanna then created history by becoming the oldest-ever player to reach the final at the US Open.
- He however couldn’t go on to win the title after losing the final against defending champions Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
- Bopanna continued his form as along with Ebden, he reached the final at the Shanghai Masters, where they yet again lost in the final.
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Subsequent improvement in rankings and ATP Final Qualification
At the start of the year, Bopanna was ranked 19th in the Men’s Doubles rankings. With his exceptional performance, the Indian managed to reach as high as World No.5 this year.
This is his best-ever ranking since October 2023. He broke into the Top 10 for the first time since June 2016. Currently Bopanna is at the 8th spot in the rankings. Matthew Ebden meanwhile is at World No.7. This helped the duo earn a place in the year-end ATP Finals.
Bopanna will be returning to the ATP Finals for the first time since 2015. This will be his career’s fourth ATP Final appearance. Meanwhile, Matthew Ebden has reached the ATP Finals for the first time in his career.
Rohan Bopanna’s career record
In a stellar career spanning more than two decades, Rohan Bopanna has won numerous titles. He has one Grand Slam title to his name in Mixed Doubles and five ATP Masters titles to his name.
Grand Slam victories
- 2017 French Open – Mixed Doubles title – Partner: Garbriela Dabrowski
ATP Masters 1000 titles
- 2011 Paris Masters – Men’s Doubles – Partner: Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi
- 2012 Paris Masters – Men’s Doubles – Partner: Mahesh Bhupathi
- 2015 Madrid Masters – Men’s Doubles – Partner: Florin Mergea
- 2017 Monte Carlos Masters – Men’s Doubles – Partner: Pablo Cuevas
- 2023 Indian Wells Masters – Men’s Doubles – Partner: Matthew Ebden