Bopanna also became the oldest player to achieve No.1 ranking in men’s doubles.
Rohan Bopanna scripted history on Saturday as he became the oldest player to win a Grand Slam. Bopanna, 43, achieved the historic feat after he and Matthew Ebden defeated Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori to win the 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles final.
He broke the earlier record of Jean-Julien Rojer who became the Grand Slam champion at the age of 40. Julien and his doubles partner Marcelo Arevola had won the French Open men’s doubles title in 2022.
Bopanna, who made his 17th Australian Open appearance in this edition, comfortably wrapped up his maiden Grand Slam men’s doubles title victory at the age of 43 years 329 days.
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The Indo-Australian duo maintained their dominance in the first set. In the ninth match, the duo comfortably dominated the Italian pair and claimed a win with a scoreline of 40-15.
After a long, thrilling battle, the duo of Bopanna and Ebden won the first set of the men’s doubles final. After taking the game in a tie-breaker, Bopanna and Ebden produced a dominating performance to claim the first set by 7-6.
The second set turned out to be a thrilling encounter, just like the first one. In the ninth game, Bolelli and Vavassori gave a dominating performance as Bopanna and Ebden failed to give a counterattack.
However, the Indo-Australian duo made a strong comeback and wrapped up the second set by 7-5, winning their maiden Australian Open men’s doubles title.
Earlier, Bopanna became the oldest player to achieve No. 1 ranking in men’s doubles after winning his quarter final game on Monday.
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