Melbourne: India’s Rohan Bopanna is set to become the oldest tennis player to reach the world No. 1 ranking in men’s doubles after reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open with partner Matthew Ebden here Wednesday.
The 43-year-old, who entered the tournament with a career ranking of world no. 3, and Australia’s Ebden recorded a comfortable 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over sixth-seeded Argentine duo Máximo González and Andrés Molteni in the quarterfinals that lasted one hour and 46 minutes here.
The Indian-Australian pair, seeded second, will face Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang, unseeded, in the semi-final.
Bopanna will be crowned the new number one on Monday after the tournament ends. Previously, American Rajeev Ram was the oldest player to be ranked world number 1. 1 when he reached the top spot on the chart in October 2022 at the age of 38 for the first time in his career. Ebden, on the other hand, is on the verge of reaching world number 2.
Bopanna, who reached the highest ranking and was world number three for the first time in 2013, is the fourth Indian after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza to claim the world number one spot in doubles.
He will succeed American Austin Krajicek, who lost in the second round with his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig. Bopanna won the mixed doubles title at Roland Garros in 2017 alongside Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski. However, a title eluded him in men’s doubles, having finished second twice at the US Open in 2010 with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and in 2023 with Ebden.
Bopanna’s feat at the US Open last year made him the oldest finalist in Grand Slam history.
Bopanna is also the oldest player to win a men’s doubles title at a Masters 1000 event. He achieved the feat last year at age 43 with Ebden, winning the prestigious Indian Wells tournament.
