Rohan Bopanna secures historic world No. 1 position, advances to Australian Open men’s doubles semi-finals

The feat comes less than a year after Bopanna lost the 2023 US Open final with partner Ebden, becoming the oldest male player to reach a Grand Slam final in the British Open era. Ta. Bopanna had debuted more than 20 years ago.

Bopanna entered the Australian Open with a career-high ranking of 3rd place. The veteran Indian, who reached the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam of the year, is certain to become the new No. 1 when the rankings are updated next week. His men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden has secured the No. 2 spot in the men’s doubles rankings.

Bopanna reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in 17 attempts.

Earlier, Bopanna and Ebden defeated Wesley Kuhlhoff and Nikola Mektic in the Australian Open men’s doubles quarter-finals at Melbourne Park in a tight two-set battle 7-6 (8), 7-6 ( 4) and earned the right to participate.

Kuhlhov-Mektic took control from the start, breaking the 43-year-old Bopanna’s serve as early as the second game of the first set to take the lead. To offset the lead, the Indian-Australian duo fought back in the seventh game and defeated Mektic.

Bopanna-Ebden’s expertise ultimately led to a 10-8 win in the tiebreak after the set was decided.

The second group followed a similar pattern. In the sixth game, Kuhlhov-Mektic broke Bopanna again to secure his first break point. Bopanna and Ebden defeated Mektic in the eighth inning, leaving the score tied at 6-6.

Bopanna-Ebden won the tie-break set in one hour and 43 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.

With ANI input