India and Australia have been embroiled in a cricketing rivalry since February 9, but more than 13,000 kilometres away on the beautiful courts of Indian Wells, another Indian sportsperson has partnered with an Australian Tennis player to become the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion.
At 43, Rohan Bopanna and his Australian counterpart, the 35-year-old Matthew Ebden pushed aside the top-ranked Netherlands pair of Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski of Britain 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 to clinch their second title together and first of the season.
Known as the BNP Paribas Open for sponsorship reasons, the tournament is held in the picturesque Indian Wells Garden, which Bopanna himself referred to as 'Tennis Paradise' after securing the coveted trophy.
"Truly special. It's called Tennis paradise for a reason. I've been coming here over the years and seeing all these guys win and I'm really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here," Bopanna said.
"There have been some tough matches, close matches, and today we played against one of the best teams out there, so I'm really happy we got the title," he added.
Born in Bengaluru, Bopanna's family have a coffee plantation in Coorg, and the veteran said that drinking this coffee is actually the secret of his success.
"It's the Indian coffee that I keep having when travelling. That's the secret. The biggest thing is to make sure you recover well after matches and that's really helped me," Bopanna said.
The previous record was held by his former doubles partner Daniel Nestor of Canada. Revealing the secret to his longevity in the sport, Bopanna said, "Taking care of his body paid off. That's the most important part, especially when you're getting older. Some days I tell Matt I maybe just practised 20 minutes, but I'd rather rest the body and be ready for our matches," Bopanna said.
"That's really been the key. I spoke to Danny and told him 'sorry, I'm going to beat your record'. Being in the final I was already the oldest and winning the final that stays with me. Really happy with that," he added.
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