You see Rohan Bopanna on a tennis court and you can tell why there’s always talk of age associated with his achievements.
There’s a lot of grey in his beard, there’s a slight stoop and heft to a physique that doesn’t exactly look like that of a pro tennis player. Just about a month short of turning 44 with compromised knees and a body that can’t burn it out at the gym, this is expected. But that is exactly where appearances deceive.
Show him an opportunity to volley at the net and see how sharply he can stretch to softly send it right back, no returns. Give him the serve on match point after a dramatic momentum shift and he will fire down an ace.
It’s exactly what he did to reach the men’s doubles final at the Australian Open on Thursday. Bopanna and Matt Ebden came through a testing phase to beat the Czech-Chinese pair of Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7) in 122 minutes to reach their second straight Grand Slam as a pair.
A day after his quarterfinal win ensured that Bopanna would become the oldest first-time world No. 1, he was back on court proving just why the top ranking is coming to him at 43 years is a culmination of hard work and consistency.
There have always older players around in men’s doubles; Rajeev Ram became world No. 1 at 38 and is still one of the best around, Mike Bryan, one half of the legendary Bryan Bros was world No. 1 at 41 years old and Jean-Julien Rojer won the French Open at 40 (Martina Navratilova’s final Major win was at 46).
That FINALS feeling ��@rohanbopanna/@mattebden prevail 6-3 3-6 7-6[10-7] over Machac/Zhang to reach the men’s doubles final!#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/VcZ0uUxrfp
– #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2024
But there is something different about Bopanna. He is playing the best tennis of life.
He’s peaking at a sport he has played for two decades at 43 years of age. And he’s doing it with no cartilage in his knees and with a body that can’t do endurance training or regular mobility drills. This is four years after considering retirement due to pain and a decade after getting his previous best ranking of world No. 3.
Consider this: This is Bopanna’s first men’s doubles final at the Australian Open, ever. The best before this was a third-round finish. In fact, this is only his third men’s doubles Grand Slam final, after the US Open in 2010 and 2023. Yes, 13 years apart.
It tells you the amount of time, effort and determination Bopanna needed to stay focused on his career.
He does have a Slam title in mixed doubles at the 2017 French Open. But mixed doubles is only played at the four Majors while men’s doubles is a year-round pursuit with an organised tour, rankings and a competitive field often with top singles players partaking in it.
It was no walk in the park at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday either. Playing back-to-back days with little time for physical recovery, Bopanna was sharp on serve and at the net for the first set, clinching it with ease. A slight lapse in the second forced a decider and that’s when the real challenge began.
Against hard-hitting 27-and-23-year-olds at the other end, the task was to use their superior experience and doubles touch at the net. Bopanna almost single-handedly took a 4-1 lead with a break and consolidation, commanding shots from the net and getting his volleys perfect to keep the match on his racquet.
But then came the twist as Bopanna was broken while serving for the match and then the Indo-Australian pair squandered three match points on Zhang’s serve to go into the lucky draw called match super tiebreak.
In the past, this may have been the moment Bopanna and Ebden faltered with the nerves kicking in and the serves going missing like they had a few games ago. But the soon-to-be world No. 1 was not going to let this second chance go by.
Big serves under pressure, soft touches at the net, quick regrouping after a rocket from Zhang whizzed by him. Positive body language after errors. And then, ace in match point from Bopanna. A perfect ending.
Bopanna was honest about how much they were made to work for this. “Even when I served for the match, we were expecting big returns, and unfortunately I got broken there. Next game we had three match points, and credit to Zhang, the way he played…That one forehand went so fast past me. Before I even could move the racquet it was gone,” he said with a smile.
“But I think overall the experience of playing together I think helped us come through that super-tiebreak there, for sure,” he added.
The experience is what will be needed again in the final, where they take on unseeded Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. Bopanna and Ebden will be the favourites going in and will have to handle the pressure. But if there ever was the perfect time for Bopanna to win his first men’s doubles Grand Slam, it is now. At 43 years of age, with the world No. 1 title waiting and all the confidence gained from playing over a year with the same partner.
Last year this time, Bopanna was on the same stage – playing the mixed doubles final with Sania Mirza at the Australian Open. That final was all about Sania, the former world No. 1 playing her final Grand Slam. There were questions about who would put Indian tennis back in these winning positions after her retirement.
One year later, Bopanna is back in an Australian Open final, this time as world No. 1 himself after the best year of his career. A Grand Slam trophy would be the crowning glory, but even the journey of getting there is no less special.