Rohan Bopanna is the oldest player to win the ATP Masters 1000 tennis title
of India Rohan Bopanna became the eldest tennis to win players ATP Masters 1000 title when he claimed the men’s doubles crown Indian Wells Masters 2023 Tournament with Australian partner Matthew Ebden on Saturday in California.
Rohan Bopanna, 43, and Matthew Ebden, 35, upset Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Britain, the top seeds, 6-3 2-6 10-8 in the final to claim victory BNP Paribas open Trophy.
“Really special. It’s not called Tennis Paradise for nothing,” said Bopanna. “I’ve come here over the years and watched all these guys win for so many years. I’m really glad that Matt and I did it and got this title here.
“It’s been some tough games, close games. Today we played against one of the best teams out there. Really happy we got the trophy.”
Before Bopanna, Canadian Daniel Nestor was the oldest player to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, having won the 2015 Cincinnati Masters at the age of 42.
“I spoke to Danny Nestor and told him I’m sorry I’m going to beat his record,” Bopanna said. “Winning the title – that sticks in my memory, I’m very happy about it.”
Bopanna has now won 24 ATP titles, including five ATP Masters 1000. It was the Indian tennis player’s second title this year after also winning the Qatar Open with Ebden last month.
Earlier in the Indian Wells semifinals, unseeded pair Bopanna-Ebden defeated defending champions John Isner and Jack Sock of the USA 7(8)–6(6), 7(7)–6(2) on hard.
In the quarterfinals, the Indian-Australian duo beat Canadian duo Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5. Bopanna-Ebden conceded a bye against Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria and Hubert Hurkacz from Poland in the round of 16. In their opening match, Bopanna-Ebden beat Brazilian Rafael Matos and Spaniard David Vega Hernandez 7:5, 3:6, 10:6.
Bopanna, a former world No. 3 in men’s doubles, was 15th in the ATP doubles rankings ahead of the tournament. The win at the Indian Wells Masters placed him 11th in the live doubles tennis rankings.
