A couple of weekends ago, Rohan Bopanna signed off from his 21-year Davis Cup journey leaving his jersey on court. A week prior to that, he signed off from the 2023 US Open holding aloft the men’s doubles runner-up trophy. On Saturday, the 43-year-old signed off from his last Asian Games with another gold medal in tow.
“Maybe on a flight somewhere, I’ll have the time to sit down and think about it and feel all the emotions,” Bopanna said.
One half of the 2018 gold-medal winning men’s doubles team (the other being Divij Sharan), Bopanna’s title defence in Hangzhou was off to a shocking start, exiting from the men’s doubles first round with new partner Yuki Bhambri. But alongside Rutuja Bhosale, he went all the way in mixed doubles. The experienced Indian duo rallied from a set down to defeat Chinese Taipei’s Liang En Shuo and Tsung-hao Huang 2-6, 6-3, 10-4 in the final a day after going past the second seeds from the same country in the semis.
For a 43-year-old tennis professional who competed in his first Asian Games more than two decades back (in 2002 Busan), just turning up for the 2023 edition was a “bonus”.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another Asian Games for me,” Bopanna said. “Any time there’s an option to represent the country, I always look forward to it. The way things have gone this year, it’s been amazing.”
The doubles world No. 7 has played 21 tournaments this year so far, reaching two Grand Slam finals, winning two ATP titles and knocking on the doors of being at the year-ending ATP Finals. At his age and stage of a successful yet hectic season, extracting the motivation for an Asian Games could take some doing. For Bopanna, that was multifold, with one eye on the 2024 Paris Olympics. Should he remain in the top 10 next year, the Indian will earn an automatic spot for another Olympic appearance.
“Paris 2024 is a realistic goal, and it’s more realistic now with where I am and if I remain top-10,” Bopanna said. “For that, physically I have to be fit, and I don’t take that for granted.”
As the most accomplished member of the squad in Hangzhou guiding Rutuja — the Pune pro won her first Games medal — along, Bopanna’s role went beyond his own game. The 2017 French Open mixed doubles champion showed glimpses of that during the final rubber in Lucknow, where he sat on the captain’s chair and was in the ears of debutant Digvijay Pratap Singh for most parts.
“The biggest thing for me is to make them understand the significance of the event,” Bopanna said. “Just watching Diggy play, I was telling him what he was doing, what he could do better and reading the opponent — where he was positioning himself at certain times, the patterns. Things like that, over the years, the experience has taught me to understand the game by just watching it.
“Then, instead of giving them too much information at the beginning of the match, I’d rather tell them after watching them on court on how they could improvise. That’s what doubles has taught me. And to catch that immediately comes with experience.”
The Davis Cup great said he’d love to continue being there for the younger pros if the federation wants him to as the non-playing captain. If that were to happen, Bopanna will bring in “certain different rules and changes”, for he believes the camaraderie in playing for the country isn’t quite the same as it was in Indian tennis’ more glory days in which he featured prominently.
“Even when your teammate is playing, to support him and be there committed fully. Not just be there for the sake of it — there’s a big difference in that. Be there till the end of the tie, not leave after your match is done. Such small things need to be understood, to be figured out, to be taught,” he said. “This is what Davis Cup, Asian Games, Olympics has taught me: team building and team bonding.”
After his India duties, Bopanna will be back to chasing greater personal goals from this season. He will remain in China to play the ATP Shanghai Masters with partner Matthew Ebden. The duo, with the Indian Wells Masters triumph, Wimbledon semi-final and US Open final, is on track to be among the top eight doubles teams at the ATP Finals in Turin in November. Having paired up at the start of the year, they are committed to play the next season together and carry forward and even build on their solid show.
“When we got together, our goal was to do well in Slams and try and qualify for Turin. We’re on track on both,” Bopanna said. “There’s a good opportunity for us to start the next year strong again.”
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