Rohan Bopanna may have turned professional in 2003 but over 20 years later, not only is the Indian still playing at the highest level, he ended up adding a highlight to his career. Bopanna, 43, became the oldest to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era earlier this week by winning the men’s doubles title with Matthew Ebden at the Australian Open. This also helped him rise to the top of the men’s doubles rankings for the first time in his career.
Bopanna is not the only one in men’s tennis to have risen to new heights at an age which would normally be considered the twilight of a player’s career. The Big Three in men’s tennis – Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all dominated tennis despite being some of the oldest players on tour, with Djokovic still doing so. While Nadal has been struggling with injuries, Federer retired from the sport in 2022.
‘How he changed the sport, on the court and off it’
Bopanna has shared a locker room with all three over the course of his storied career and revealed that he used to play cricket with Federer at times. “In the locker room he was as free as possible. He is a big fan of cricket, his mother is from South Africa. There were many times where we were at Wimbledon in the locker room, you know, Roger and I used to play cricket,” he said on the Youtube channel ‘The Other Side’.
“I think there were three times we were at the warm-up area at a similar juncture because we were playing matches which were similar times on different courts, and we happened to be there.”
rohan “I think how he changed the sport, not only on the court but off the court as well,” Rohan Bopanna said. “He was somebody who communicated with all the players, and understood them. Even though he was such a great champion, no matter where he met some players, he was always amazing,” he said.
