Australian Open 2024: India tennis star Rohan Boppanna became the oldest man in the history to win a Grand slam title in the Open Era aged 43 Years and 329 days. He achieved the feat as the Indo-Australian pair of Bopanna-Matthew Ebden beat the all-Italian duo of Simone Bolelli-Andrea Vavassori in straight sets in the men's doubles final of the Australian Open on Saturday (January 27). Bopanna and Ebden outclassed their opponents to win in straight sets 7-6, 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
The win sums off what has been a splendid week for Bopanna. While he was assured of the number 1 ranking in the men's doubles tennis, he was then selected for the prestigious Padma Shri Award and he finished it off with a record win in the final that has clinched the pair a Grand Slam title. This is Bopanna's first Grand Win victory in as many as 61 attempts as he now sets a new record for the most attempts before winning a first Grand Slam men’s doubles title. He broke the record of USA's Rajeev Ram who took as many as 58 attempts before he could win his first Australian Open Men's Doubles victory.
Complete Dominance From Indo-Australian Pair Of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden
Such was the dominance from the Indo-Australian Open that even though the first set of the match was forced into a tie-breaker, they played their near-perfect tennis in the tie-breakers to win that point 7-0 to take the lead heading into the second set. In what turned out to be deciding set, things were poised at 5-5 at the moment which is when Bopanna and Ebden produced a crucial break against Bolelli-Vavassori. They then retained their serve with ease to go on to clinch the trophy. Post a victory to be remembered for ages, Bopanna said that he was at Level 43 and not 43-year-old before going on to thank his partner.