Bopanna, 43, became the oldest grand slam champion when he and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated the tough Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in an exciting final match.
Australian Open 2024 Updates : Indian tennis legend Rohan Bopanna made tennis history on Saturday at the Australian Open 2024 with an incredible feat of skill and perseverance. Bopanna, 43, became the oldest grand slam champion when he and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated the tough Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in an exciting final match.
With this victory, Bopanna adds a second grand slam championship to his impressive resume, which had included winning the mixed doubles French Open in 2017 with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski.
The championship match featured a thrilling struggle for domination between both partners as they displayed their elite skills and resolve. From the beginning, Bolelli and Vavassori mounted a persistent offensive, but Bopanna and Ebden maintained composure and mounted a strong defense against the early assault.
The match was heating up, and it showed in the way the first set ended—which set up an exciting tiebreaker in which Bopanna and Ebden showed who was boss—winning 6 (7)–6 (0). Bolelli and Vavassori, unfazed, rallied and launched a flurry of aggressive shots in a valiant attempt to change the tide. Still, Bopanna and Ebden remained calm and gradually took charge of the match. The outcome of every game in the match changed, but the Australian-Indian pair never gave up and eventually won a fiercely contested match 7–5 in the second set.