India’s tennis star Rohan Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam after he and his men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden won the Australia Open on Saturday. In an exciting match, Bopanna (43 years 329 days) and Ebden defeated Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5. After teaming up with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski to win the mixed doubles French Open in 2017, this was only Bopanna’s second Grand Slam victory. Following the Rod Laver Arena final, the 43-year-old gave his wife Supriya Annaiah Bopanna the credit for his achievement.
"Age truly is not a number for this guy. He’s young at heart, he’s a warrior” 🇦🇺🏆🇮🇳@mattebden • @rohanbopanna • #AusOpen • #AO2024https://t.co/BwLQeTiPv1
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2024
That being said, Bopanna’s old comment about his wife has become very popular on social media. Bopanna disclosed earlier this month how Supriya inspired him during his thin period.
“My wife said it beautifully one day, ‘when you change limitations to opportunities, everything changes.’ We are always told at 25 this has to happen, by 30 this has to happen, at 40 this will happen. It’s a thing which is told to us constantly, whether it is sport or life, whether it is marriage, having kids, whatever it may be. But when you change that into opportunities, then the limitations go away,” Bopanna recalled.
After the final, Bopanna also reaveled that a few years ago he was thinking about his retirement from the sport.
“My 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 ‘I’m gonna call it a day.’ Because I wasn’t 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,” he added.
With Ebden in company, Bopanna will soon will become the oldest number one in men’s doubles history when the new rankings are released next week.
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