Indian Tennis great Rohan Bopanna has created history as he has assured himself of a World No.1 spot in the doubles category. The 43-year-old Bopanna will become the oldest-ever player to take the pinnacle spot in men's doubles when the ATP rankings update come on the upcoming Monday.
The historic achievement comes after Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden stormed into the semifinals of the ongoing Australian Open Grand Slam. Bopanna and Ebden defeated Argentine duo Máximo González and Andrés Molteni in the quarterfinal clash 6-4,7-6 (7-5) to set up a semifinal date with Chinese pair Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac.
Currently, USA's Austin Krajicek is ranked number 1 in the Men's doubles category and is followed by Croatia's Ivan Dodig. Bopanna is currently ranked third but will jump the two spots in the coming days.
Bopanna and his partner Ebden outclassed the Argentine pair to make their way into the semis of the Australian Open. They broke Gonzalez in the fifth game of the opening set and then also saved a break point in the eighth game. That was the only break point they had to save as the Argentine duo then could not come close to break the Indo-Australian pair. Bopanna and Ebden were heads and shoulders above the Argentine duo on aces to as they nailed nine, seven more than Gonzalez and Molteni.
Bopanna will be the fourth Indian to take the No.1 spot in doubles as he joins compatriots Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Bopanna has won a French Open title in mixed doubles but the men's doubles title has eluded the Indian great till now. His mixed title came in 2017 with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. He has finished as runners-up twice in men's doubles in the major Grand Slams - both coming in US Open. The first of those was with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Quresh in 2010 and the latest one in 2023 with Edben.
