At 43 years old, Rohan Bopanna is on the cusp of making history as the oldest World No. 1 in men’s doubles, following his successful journey to the Australian Open 2024 semifinals in Melbourne. Partnering with Australian Matthew Ebden, Bopanna secured a notable victory over the sixth-seeded all-Argentine pair of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win in the quarterfinals.
This achievement propels Bopanna past the current World No. 1, USA’s Austin Krajicek, who, along with Croatian partner Ivan Dodig, was eliminated in the second round. The Indo-Australian duo demonstrated their prowess by breaking Gonzalez’s serve in the fifth game and navigating through a tiebreaker in the second set.
Looking ahead, Bopanna and Ebden are poised to face the Czech-Chinese pair of Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang in the semifinals. If successful, Bopanna will join the esteemed ranks of Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes, and Sania Mirza as the fourth Indian player to attain the No. 1 ranking in doubles.
Notably, Bopanna boasts a mixed doubles Grand Slam title from the French Open in 2017 alongside Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. His prowess extends to men’s doubles, where he finished runner-up at the US Open in 2010 with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and in 2023 with Ebden, marking him as the oldest-ever Grand Slam finalist. Furthermore, Bopanna holds the distinction of being the oldest player to clinch a men’s doubles title at a Masters event, achieving this feat at Indian Wells last year.
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