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Star Indi an tennis player, Rohan Bopanna on Wednesday, January 24 made history as he became the oldest World No. 1 to enter the semifinals of the Australian Open 2024. The tennis veteran attained his career-high ranking, early on Wednesday after win in men’s doubles quarterfinals along with Matthew Ebden.
The 43-year-old along with his Australian partner beat sixth-seeded Argentinian duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni with the scoreline 6-4, 7-6 (5).
With this win, the Indian tennis star will not only become the oldest World No. 1 ranked player but also surpass the record held by Rajeev Ram of USA. Ram achieved the top ranking in October 2022 at the age of 38.
Moreover, the Indian-Aussie duo entered the Australian Open as World No. 3 but surpassed it all to become the top-ranked pair in the world. Earlier, Rohan Bopanna became the oldest to qualify for a Grand Slam in the Open Era when he and his doubles pair Ebden lost the US Open 2023 final.
Speaking after the win in Melbourne, Bopanna said, “These last 13 months have been an incredibly consistent kind of year. I am proud to be where I am today, at the ranking of no. 1. So, India needed this, Indian tennis needed this. I am really happy to be representing India across the world in this tennis journey. There’s so much love and support from the entire country for two decades. I am thankful for all the support. I think, this is from my side, giving back to everyone in India. Thank you.”
The new World No. 1 will face unseeded Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang in the semifinals on Thursday, 25 January at 7:30 a.m. IST.
