Grand old man: Rohan Bopanna becomes No. 1 at 43

MELBOURNE, January 24

Rohan Bopanna’s worn out knees have not stopped him from climbing the world doubles rankings and the 43-year-old Indian became the oldest player to reach No. 1 after making the Australian Open semifinals with Matthew Ebden today.

Bopanna and Australian Ebden beat Argentine pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4 7-6(5) to ensure that the evergreen Indian would top the rankings once they are updated following the year’s first Grand Slam on Monday.

Ebden will become world No. 2 having played three more tournaments than Bopanna during the ranking period.

It marked the latest milestone for Bopanna, who became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he won the Indian Wells doubles crown with Ebden last year and followed it up by becoming the oldest to win a match at the ATP Finals.

Bopanna, who hails from Karnataka and often jokes that the coffee from his plantation in Coorg was behind his success, said that focusing on his recovery and optimising training had contributed to his longevity.

“The real focus was on that, not to really go out there and run on the treadmill or lift weights,” Bopanna said. “That wasn’t something I wanted to do when I hired my physio from Belgium last year. I told her specifically what I needed, because I have no cartilage in my knees. It’s completely worn out.” — Reuters