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Rohan Bopanna is just one match away from scripting history. The Indian tennis stalwart has already created a buzz for the game back home with his consistency, belying his age.
Paired with local lad Matthew Ebden, Rohan Bopanna will face the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori on Saturday (January 27), at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. The match is expected to start at 3:15 pm IST.
Ebden has won two Grand Slam events - the 2013 Australian Open (mixed doubles) and 2022 Wimbledon (men's doubles). Bopanna, meanwhile, has won a solitary title in his career, the 2017 French Open Championships in mixed doubles.
Bopanna, who will turn 44 in March, won't have a better opportunity than this to lift his first men's doubles Grand Slam title. He has been terrific with his serves and volleys throughout the tournament, with the forehand being on song.
Rohan Bopanna recently became the oldest player to attain the World No. 1 ranking in any of the five disciplines of tennis. He joined former Indian legends Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza in reaching the landmark.
How Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden have overcome tough battles in Australian Open
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden have so far won all six sets that have gone to a tiebreaker, with two of them being super tiebreakers (10 points). The Indo-Australian duo have only dropped two sets on way to the final.
They overcame two home pairs of James Duckworth-Marc Polmans and John Millman-Edward Winter in the first couple of rounds. The second-seeded pair was tested against Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia in the third round, but they came through in two tie-breakers.
Bopanna and Ebden toiled hard against the Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the quarterfinal before prevailing 6-4, 7-6(5). They then bettered the Czech-Chinese pair of Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen in the semifinals 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7).
