“Indian tennis needed this,” Rohan Bopanna said soon after it was confirmed that he’d be men’s doubles world No. 1 (for the first time, at the age of 43) when the new rankings are released on Monday. “Watching sports, you always have idols while growing up, I hope me reaching the No. 1 position inspires someone back home…. I am, extremely proud that I was able to achieve this.”
Bopanna becoming the men’s doubles world No. 1 is nothing short of inspirational. He reached his career-best ranking after a quarterfinal win at the 2024 Australian Open, becoming the oldest first-time world No. 1 in tennis history.
For an Indian to become the world No. 1 in a gruelling, all-year round, individual sport like tennis is always an achievement to celebrate. There have only ever been 3 Indians to reach the highest ranking in the sport before Bopanna.
But to become world No. 1 for the first time ever when you are less than 2 months short of turning 44 years old, 4 years after considering retirement due to extreme pain and playing without any cartilage in his knee, is an achievement that goes beyond tennis.
Bopanna’s is the kind of feat that resonates with everyone, whether you follow the sport or not. It’s the kind of story that shows just why sport is a real-life theatre.
Fellow Indian tennis greats Mahesh Bhupathi and Somdev Devvarman called it one of the greatest stories in Indian sport.
Rohan Bopanna & Mark Ebden storm into the #AO2024 semis with a straight sets win over their ���� opponents ��
Yet another feather in the cap of a glorious career for .@RohanBopanna – the semis beckon tomorrow! #AusOpen #GreatnessStartsHere #SonyLIV pic.twitter.com/lxLZp0ynU4
– Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) January 24, 2024
“It has been a dream to get close to my highest ranking. It has been little over a decade since I got to world No. 3 and after a successful 2023, I believed I could get to the world No. 1,” Bopanna told reporters after his quarterfinal win. “Little did I know it would come 11 years later,” he added.
The 11-year gap between him first reaching a career-best world No. 3 in 2013 and now becoming the world No. 1 in 2024 is a story of perseverance, belief and discipline. Just like 13-year drought between his first and latest appearance in a men’s doubles Grand Slam final that he ended in his highly successful 2023 season, where he broke a slew of ‘oldest-man-to’ records in tennis.
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To get here for years after contemplating retirement needed Bopanna to change his training, find alternatives through yoga, extreme mental fortitude and a pandemic-enforced break in between.
“At the end of 2019, I was thinking about stopping because my knees were in extreme pain, I was on 2-3 painkillers a day. In 2021, I did not even win a match for the first five months of the year. These thoughts have crossed my mind.”
“As a tennis player, you think sometimes the journey is done and you don’t know what’s next. The biggest thing for me is I found new ways to persevere, challenge myself and really give it another shot. I am thankful that I stuck to my instinct and believed in myself. That really shows why today I have been able to achieve this,” he said.
And he keeps on achieving new things. Last year, Bopanna became the oldest man to win an ATP Masters title, qualify for the year-end ATP Finals and reached two Grand Slam finals.
This year, he has made the business end of the Australian Open in men’s doubles for the first time in his career. “I have been playing here for over 15 years, I never crossed the third round. I am already at the semis. That belief is there.”
This belief has been key, along with improved sports science and his own investment in maintaining his fitness. “The biggest aspect is mental strength – you have to believe it in yourself before you even go out there and try to achieve it,” he said.
But building this has not been easy with his reduced mobility.
“You have to be really focused on the discipline you need as an athlete. There are certain types of training I can’t even do, like endurance training. [But] I have been having an ice bath every single day since I came to Australia. At my age, recovery is a major aspect. I’ve been trying to find the right balance of food and stay in the best shape. Just understanding my body and focussing on that has built that mental strength,” he said.
This mental strength has already helped him achieve one major goal – the world No. 1 rank. In the next few days, he will have a chance to achieve another, a first men’s doubles Grand Slam title. He had just the one, a mixed doubles trophy at the 2017 French Open.
But even if he doesn’t cross that finish line here, the 43-year-old has done more than enough to keep putting himself in positions to keep achieving his dreams.
As cliched as it is, the new world No. 1 Bopanna has shown that age is just a number.