History at Melbourne Park: 43-year-old Rohan Bopanna and Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated 6th seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach the semifinals and officially crown Bopanna the oldest ATP World No. 1 in history.
Rohan Bopanna · Road to World No. 1 at AO 2024
Oldest World No. 1 (Age 43)| Round | Match | Score | Result | Match Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | (2)Rohan Bopanna (IND, 3) / Matthew Ebden (AUS, 4) d. (WC)James Duckworth / Marc Polmans (AUS) | 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(10-2) | WON | 500th career tour-level doubles match win |
| R2 | (2)Rohan Bopanna (IND, 3) / Matthew Ebden (AUS, 4) d. (WC)John Millman / Edward Winter (AUS) | 6-2, 6-4 | WON | Commanding straight-sets victory |
| R3 | (2)Rohan Bopanna (IND, 3) / Matthew Ebden (AUS, 4) d. (14)Wesley Koolhof (NED) / Nikola Mektic (CRO) | 7-6(8), 7-6(4) | WON | Ousted former Wimbledon champions in twin tiebreaks |
| QF | (2)Rohan Bopanna (IND, 3) / Matthew Ebden (AUS, 4) d. (6)Maximo Gonzalez / Andres Molteni (ARG) | 6-4, 7-6(5) | WON | Clinched ATP World No. 1 ranking |
Joining Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi & Sania Mirza
Bopanna becomes the fourth Indian player in tennis history to ascend to World No. 1 in doubles and the oldest first-time No. 1 in ATP Tour history at 43 years and 331 days.
Another day another record for tennis veteran and India’s pride, Rohan Bopanna. After being pro for more than 20 years, Bopanna will become world no 1 for the first time in his career when the next ATP Doubles Rankings will be released after the ongoing Australian Open.
Rohan is making new records with every win now. From becoming oldest man to win ATP 1000 Masters title to becoming oldest man to feature in a Grand slam final. Bopanna also celebrated his 500th career match win at the Australian open when he won his first round match.
2nd seed Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden defeated 6th seed Argentina pair of Gonzalez and Molteni 6-4 7-6(5) to reach the semis of the Australian open. They will next face Zhizhen Zhang of China and Tomas Machac of Czech Republic for a place in the finals.
Both Bopanna and Ebden have 7170 points in the live ATP Rankings overtaking America’s Austin Krajicek who is at 7160 points.
The Indian Express – Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were World no 1 in 1999. And Sania Mirza was last Indian to become World no 1 which she achieved on April 13, 2015.