Rohan Bopanna is many mad statistics.
Aged 43 years and 329 days he is the oldest man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam doubles title.
It comes at the 61st time of asking, the most attempts anyone has had before winning.
He has been at 17 Australian Opens, the joint most anyone has needed to win a men’s doubles title, equalling compatriot Leander Paes.
And on Monday, when the new tennis rankings are released, he will be the oldest men’s doubles world No 1, beating the record set by American Mike Bryan, who was 41 years and 76 days.
He has been the talk of the town this week at the Australian Open.
Bopanna (right) and Ebden celebrate their victory (DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Alongside his doubles partner, Australian Matthew Ebden, Bopanna was crowned champion on Rod Laver Arena, beating the Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassoni 7-6, 7-5. Ebden is his 19th different partner and this was his third attempt at winning a slam final.
That Ebden, 36, won the tournament on home soil made it all the sweeter. It’s a feeling Bopanna felt, too. “I consider this a lot to be the home Grand Slam,” he said, “coming from the Asian continent”.
The gravity of becoming world No 1 at his age was not lost on him either. “To be honest, it is still sinking in,” he said. Ebden called his partner’s achievement, “an incredible testament to his hard work.” He went on. “This last year it would have been easy for him to think, ‘oh, I’ll just have another decent year and retire in the next couple of years’, but I asked him to commit fully,” he said. “He pushed himself. He’s young at heart, he’s a champion, he’s a warrior”
Perseverance is the defining word for Bopanna and for this partnership. With a combined age of 79, they have wisdom that only comes with experience. Things did not get off to the smoothest of starts, losing their first tests as a new duo, a result that might cause younger players to quit and try something new. But they had, as Ebden says, “the maturity to at least give it a good few months, work at it and make it work”.
It is no surprise that they eventually succeeded, because their strengths suited each other at the most basic level. Ebden says: “He plays on the deuce side, I’ve been playing on the ad. That immediately was a good fit.” Fit it does. En route to the final they lost just two sets, but did require six tiebreaks. Perseverance.
So how has Bopanna kept himself going at an age when most would be seriously worrying about their various leg tendons?
A combination of Therabands (resistance bands), ice baths and a Belgian physio named Rebecca are the keys to the Indian’s success. Together they spent time working out the best training programme for him, especially given he, supposedly, has “no cartilages on my knees. It’s completely worn out”. Even more impressive. “I told her (Rebecca), these are my conditions,” he said. “I need to strengthen my quads, strengthen my hamstrings and glutes specifically because then I won’t have any pain playing these matches.”
Bopanna can’t believe he’s done it (DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)
So what is next for Bopanna? His real challenge is finding someone to partner him at this summer’s Paris Olympics. He cannot play in the mixed doubles as there is no woman who is ranked highly enough to partner him. So it is a question of finding the right match for him on the men’s side. “We have a good bunch of guys ranked from the 60s to 140, almost 10 guys in the ranking in India right now who are playing full-time doubles,” he said. But the added problem is “figuring out who is good on the clay court, because we’re gonna be playing in Roland Garros”.
Bopanna is hopeful that his achievement can be the catalyst for his country. “I think Indian tennis, India needed this,” he said. “We don’t really have many tennis players coming up. Sport is slowly coming up. I think it’s just going to inspire a lot of people.” And he hopes that it may reach far wider than that. “People all over the world aged 40 and above,” he said. “I think it’s just going to inspire them in a different way.”
Aged 43, Bopanna has achieved his dream and he is not finished yet.
(Top photo: DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images)
