The renowned Indian tennis player Rohan Boppana created history on Wednesday when he advanced to the Australian Open 2024 semifinals as the oldest World No 1.
With the assistance of his men’s double partner, Australian Matthew Edben, he overcame the sixth-seeded Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, winning 6-4, 7-6 (5).
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Boppana (43) also made history by surpassing Rajiv Ram of the United States, who finished first in October 2022. At that time, Rajiv Ram was 38 years old.
Speaking following the victory, Rohan Boppana said, “This year has been extraordinarily consistent over the past 13 months.” Being ranked first is where I am most proud of myself right now. Thus, both Indian tennis and India need this. I am so excited to be around the world playing tennis as a representative of India. Over the past 20 years, the nation has shown very little affection and support. I appreciate all of your help. I believe that this is my way of giving back to the Indian people. I’m grateful.
In the Australian Open semifinals on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. IST, the newly ranked World No. 1 men’s doubles team of Rohan Boppana and Matthew Edbin will take on the unseeded Thomas Machac and Zhizhen Ziang.