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India's tennis icon Sania Mirza conveyed her happiness as her former mixed-doubles partner Rohan Bopanna achieved the no.1 ranking in men's doubles. This significant accomplishment occurred with a victory in the quarter-final match during the Australian Open 2024 on January 24. Teaming up with his Australian partner Matthew Abden, Bopanna secured straight-set wins of 6-4, 7-6 (5) against the sixth-seeded Argentinian duo, Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
At the age of 43, Bopanna made history, becoming the oldest men's doubles player to be ranked world no.1. Sania, his former mixed-doubles partner, shared her excitement regarding this achievement on social media.
Bopanna and Mirza had advanced to the final of the mixed doubles in the Australian Open 2023, contributing to their notable history of collaboration in tennis.
He ascended to the top-ranked position, surpassing the previous record held by Rajeev Ram from the USA. He attained this top ranking in October 2022 at the age of 38. In the Australian Open 2024, Bopanna, alongside his Australian partner Ebden, has progressed to the semi-finals of the men's doubles competition, bringing him one step closer to securing the inaugural Australian Open title.
The Bopanna and Matthew Ebden pair exhibited flawless performance in the first set of the match, clinching a 6-4 victory against their Argentine opponents, the sixth seed - Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. Although the Indo-Australian duo faced a tie-breaker in the second set, they managed to secure a 7-6(5) win over their opponents.
Bopanna and Ebden are set to face the unseeded pair of Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac in the semi-finals of the competition.
The 43-year-old expressed his enthusiasm after accomplishing the historic feat and extended gratitude to his partner Ebden and the entire team.
"I want to thank my team who are here, they have definitely been through some tough moments. The career high was in 2013 and you know, you have got to keep going, what can you say? Never hold back, so thanks to all of them. And most of all thanks to my partner Matt, who I will get this ranking with. So, truly special and you know it is always going to be a fantastic memory here," Boppana said in the on-court interview.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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