Melbourne: Rohan Bopanna became only the third Indian to win a Grand Slam men’s doubles title, winning the Australian Open crown with partner Matthew Ebden after a victory over Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, here on Saturday.
In a high-quality tennis match, second seeds Bopanna and Ebden won 7-6 (0), 7-5 in the final which lasted one hour and 39 minutes.
Only the iconic Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have won major titles for India in men’s tennis, while trailblazer Sania Mirza has done so in women’s tennis.
For Bopanna, this is her second Grand Slam title, having won the French Open in mixed doubles with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017.
At 43, Bopanna also became the oldest men’s tennis Grand Slam champion. He beats the record of Jean-Julien Rojer who, at 40, lifted the men’s doubles trophy at Roland-Garros in 2022 with Marcelo Arevola.
The battle was so hotly contested at the Rod Laver Arena that the contest featured only one break of serve when Vavassori dropped her serve at love in game 11 of the second set. There weren’t many break points on offer either.
Bopanna and Ebden had break points in successive games early in the competition. However, the Italians saved both to remain tied.
In the second game, on Bolelli’s serve, Vavassori hit a volley at 30-30 but Bopanna managed a long return.
In the fourth game, the Italians were still missing a break point when at 30-30, a Bopanna return skipped off the net to give the second seeds a free point. However, Vavassori also served well to save this point.
Serving at 4-5 and 30, Bolelli was under pressure again, but hit a powerful crosscourt forehand that was beyond Bopanna’s reach, then served wildly to make it 5-up.
Ebden’s serve came under pressure in the eleventh game in which he faced a break point, but, after playing two points, the Australian closed the match with an ace.
In the tiebreaker, Bolelli’s serve was broken twice as the second seeds took a 5-0 lead.
Vavassori also lost his serve to give his rivals six set points. They converted first, with Ebden finding a forehand winner down the line.
Bopanna will be crowned the new No. 1 on Monday when the ATP rankings are updated. At 43, he will be the oldest player to top the rankings.
