Oldest World No. 1! Rohan Bopanna Creates Tennis History at Australian Open 2024

Age is just a number for tennis icon Rohan Bopanna, who, at 43, becomes the oldest No. 1 player in men’s doubles. His inspiring journey at the Australian Open 2024 showcases that tennis prowess knows no bounds.

Rohan Bopanna, India’s reigning tennis star, has created himself in the annals of history for becoming the oldest No. 1 player in tennis history. together with Matthew Ebden, they qualified for the semifinal of men’s doubles at the Australian Open 2024 defeating the Argentinian pair Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.

At 43 years, Bopanna’s latest feat follows his Grand Slam final appearance barely a year ago and which places him as the oldest man to have qualified for such an event in the Open era. This journey to the Australian Open has put him now in high No. 1 final place in the men’s doubles which is being the oldest player ever to achieve this feat.

With a tennis career that lasted more than two decades, Bopanna started the Australian Open with his best ranking ever of No. 3. Together with Bopanna, his men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden obtains the No. Second position on the men’s doubles rankings.

This milestone marks the first time in 17 attempts that Bopanna has reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. In a gripping quarterfinal match, the Indo-Australian pair emerged victorious with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over the sixth-seeded Argentine duo of Máximo González and Andrés Molteni.

For the upcoming semi-final, Bopanna and Ebden will play against Machac & Zhang who are playing as unseeded. The journey of Bopanna to the highest position makes one more feather in his hat, as he has broken Rajeev Ram’s record being an elder candidate becoming No. He became the 1st rank in October, 2022 when he was at the age of thirty eight.

Bopanna is a veteran in doubles tennis and will now be No. 1 One spot behind the USA’s Austin Krajicek. He is a noted tennis player, who won the French Open mixed doubles title alongside Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada in the 2017. Besides losing in a final two times at the US Open, 2010 with Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and another one this year with Ebden; Bopanna still shows his determination.

In addition, Bopanna is the oldest player to ever win the men’s doubles championship at a Masters 1000 event. In 2017, aged forty-three he with Ebden won the Indian Wells title to demonstrate that age has no bearing on the success in tennis.