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Rohan Bopanna, after winning Australian Open 2024 men's doubles title, made a historic achievement by becoming the oldest male Grand Slam champion. Partnering with Australia's Matthew Ebden, the 43-year-old clinched the men's doubles title at the Rod Laver Arena. On Saturday, January 27, they triumphed over the Italian duo Simone Boleli and Andrea Vavassori with a score of 7-6 (7-0), 7-5.
Bopanna surpassed Jean-Julien Rojer's record as the oldest French Open men’s doubles champion, which Rojer had set at 40 years and 270 days with Marcelo Arevola. This victory also marked only the second occasion an Indian has won the men’s doubles title at Melbourne Park, following the success of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in 2012. This triumph at the Australian Open is Bopanna's second Grand Slam title, his first being the 2017 French Open mixed doubles title which he won with Gabriela Dabrowski. Bopanna's first Grand Slam men's doubles triumph comes after an unprecedented 61 attempts, setting a new record for the most attempts before securing a first Grand Slam men's doubles title. He surpassed the previous record held by Rajeev Ram of the USA, who achieved his first Australian Open Men's Doubles victory after 58 attempts.
In a tightly contested final that lasted 99 minutes, there was only one break of serve, executed by Ebden and Bopanna in the 11th game of the second set.
The pair, seeded second, completed this high-caliber match with an impressive tally of 26 winners and no unforced errors. The first set was intensely competitive, with both the India-UK team and the Italian pair holding their serves, leading to a tie-breaker. In the tie-breaker, Bopanna and Ebden excelled, overpowering Boleli and Vavassori.
The second set, tied at 5-5, appeared to be heading towards another tie-breaker. However, Bopanna and Ebden managed to break serve, sealing their victory decisively.
Bopanna had a close run last year in the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open with Sania Mirza, ending as runners-up. Additionally, in the US Open 2023 final, Bopanna and Ebden were defeated by the American duo of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
Bopanna will now ascend to the top of the ATP Tour doubles rankings next week, becoming the oldest player ever to achieve the world No.1 ranking for the first time.
This victory marks 36-year-old Ebden's third Grand Slam title. He previously won the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2013 and the Wimbledon men’s doubles in 2022. For Bopanna, this is his second Grand Slam title, following his mixed doubles win at Roland Garros in 2017.
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