Melbourne: Rohan Bopanna became the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title on Saturday. He clinched the title with Matthew Ebden as the pair beat the Italian team of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0) 7-5 in the final.
Aged 43 years and 329 days, the Indian star became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam doubles title in the Open era. Earlier, the record was held by Jean-Julien Rojer, who emerged triumphant in the 2022 French Open men's doubles title, along with Marcelo Arevalo, at the age of 40 years and 284 days.
The first set of the match was closely fought as both the teams kept their serves intact and it went into the tiebreaker. The Indo-Australian pair emerged triumphant, bagging the first set by 7-6. In the second set, the 11th game was the turning point as Bopanna and Ebden broke the serve of the opponents. The pair then took a lead of 6-5 as a result and winning the next game on their serve ensured a title for the pair.
The title makes up for a memorable week for Bopanna. The veteran tennis player was selected for Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour on Thursday. The 43-year-old is set to become world No. 1 in men's doubles for the first time in his career. Bopanna also has a mixed doubles title to his name from the 2017 French Open where he won alongside Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski.
