Guwahati: India’s top tennis player Rohan Bopanna became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion after winning the men’s doubles title at the BNP Paribas Open with his Australian partner Matt Ebden on March 18.
43 years old Bopanna and 35 years old Ebden defeated top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Great Britain in the tournament’s championship match on Saturday by scores of 6-3, 2-6, and 10-8.
“Truly special. It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason,” said Bopanna who was playing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final.
“I’ve been, over the years, coming here and seeing all these guys win for so many years. I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here. It’s been some tough matches, close matches. Today we played against one of the best teams out there. Really happy that we got the trophy,” he added.
42 years old Bopanna eclipsed Daniel Nestor of Canada who won the Cincinnati Masters in 2015 to become the oldest champion as a result of this occurrence.
This is the 43-year-sixth old’s Masters 1000 doubles title and first success since his victory in Monte Carlo in 2017. The Indo-Australian team was competing in their third final of the year. He currently has 24 awards at the tour level in his trophy collection.
The Indo-Australian pair shocked the two-time defending champions Michael Isner and Jack Sock in the semifinals after defeating Canadian singles talents Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals.