A day after assuring the world no.1 rankings, Indian veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna, partnering Australian Matthew Ebden, sailed into the Australian Open men’s doubles final after a win over Czech-Chinese pair of Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang.
The second-seed Indo-Aussie pair defeated Zhizhen and Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) at the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday. In his 17th Australian Open appearance, the 43-year-old Indian has advanced to the men’s doubles finals at Melbourne Park for the first time. He had never previously progressed beyond the third round in a men’s doubles draw at the tournament.
Notably, Bopanna and Ebden reached their second consecutive Grand Slam final as a pair. Bopanna and Ebden on Wednesday scored a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) quarterfinal victory against sixth-seeded Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Wednesday.
Also Read: Australian Open: Bopanna reaches SF, becomes oldest World No. 1 in men’s doubles
The triumph guarantees that Bopanna will rise to the top of the ATP Tour doubles rankings after the tournament, making him the oldest first-time world No.1 in history. He will become the fourth Indian tennis player to reach world No. 1 in doubles after Olympic bronze medallist Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.
Last year the Indian ace became the oldest man to qualify for a grand slam final in the Open era, when he and Ebden reached the US Open final. Bopanna additionally boasts the distinction of being the oldest player to clinch a men’s doubles title at a Masters event. This achievement was accomplished last year at the age of 43 when he, along with Ebden, emerged victorious at Indian Wells.
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