Tag Archives: Tennis Rohan Bopanna from Coorg

Rohan Bopanna, 43, becomes oldest Grand Slam champion with Australian Open doubles triumph

Rohan Bopanna wins maiden men’s doubles Grand Slam title just days after being assured of becoming No. 1 in ATP men’s doubles ranking.

India's Rohan Bopanna and Australia's Matthew Ebden celebrate with the trophy after winning the men's doubles final against Italy's Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori(REUTERS)
India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden celebrate with the trophy after winning the men’s doubles final against Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori(REUTERS)

Rohan Bopanna on Saturday became the oldest-ever player to win a Grand Slam after he and Matthew Ebden beat the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0), 7-5 in the 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles final. The 43-year old Bopanna beat the record of Jean-Julien Rojer, who lifted the French Open men’s doubles trophy in 2022 with Marcelo Arevola at the age of 40.

For Bopanna and Ebden, it was their maiden title together. They lost in the US Open final last year. This was Bopanna’s first Grand Slam doubles triumph after 60 attempts — another record. The India great’s only previous Grand Slam win was at the 2017 French Open in mixed doubles, with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski.

For Ebden, this is his second men’s Grand Salm doubles title. He won his first at Wimbledon in 2022 with fellow Australian Max Purcell.

In 16 previous appearances at the Australian Open, Bopanna’s best was third round appeaances, which he managed six times, the last in 2018. He had since been knocked out in opening rounds, including with Ebden in 2023.

En route to winning the doubles title, Bopanna was assured of the No. 1 ranking in men’s doubles on Monday after winning his quarter-final match, making him the oldest player ever to hold the top spot for the first time.

The final, despite the straight-set win, was a hard-fought battle. There was only one break of serve, when Bopanna and Ebden broke Vavassori at love in the 11th game of the second set.

Bopanna and Ebden looked for an early breakthrough in the contest against an unseeded pair and created break point opportunities in back-to-back games, but were denied on both occasions as the opening set headed to a tie-break. The Indo-Aussie pair didn’t lose a tie-braker all fortnight, which included two super tie-breaks, and the record remained intact as they won all seven points on offer to take a one-set lead.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> News> Sports> Tennis News / by HT Sports Desk / January 27th, 2024

ATP Finals 2023: Rohan Bopanna sets new world record in doubles, Djokovic, Alcaraz struggle in singles

Rohan Bopanna, 43 of age, partnered with Matthew Ebden of South Africa to beat Rinky Hijijata and Jasin Kubler in their second match of the doubles at ATP Finals 2023 in Turin on Wednesday and became the oldest tennis player to win the match in tournament history.

Rohan Bopanna at ATP Finals 2023 in Turin on November 15 / Image Source : GETTY

India’s veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna scripted history with a win at the ATP Finals 2023 in Turin on Wednesday, November 15. Bopanna partnered with Matthew Ebden to win the second group stage match in the men’s doubles and became the oldest player to win the ATP Finals match.

Rohan Bopanna, 43, broke the retired Canadian player Daniel Nestor’s record (aged 42 ) for the Oldest player to clinch a win in tournament history in 2014. Bopanna is showing no signs of slowing down having recently won the historic Gold in mixed doubles with Rutuja Bhosale at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou.

Bopanna earlier broke the record for the oldest player to win the ATP 100 masters title after a sensational triumph in the Indian Wells 2023 doubles event with Ebden. Bopanna-Ebden, third-seeded in Group Red,  lost their opening group match against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury but recorded an easy 6-4, 6-4 win against Rinky Hijijata and Jason Kubler in the second round-robin match.

Carlos Alcaraz registers maiden win, Jannik Sinner beats Novak Djokovic:

In the men’s singles events at the ATP Finals, the current no.2 Carlos Alcaraz registered his maiden win with a dominating 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia’s Andrey Rublev. Chasing his maiden title, the Spaniard lost the opening game against Alexander Zverev in the first match of the Red Group fixtures. Daniil Medvedev tops the group with two consecutive wins and faces Alcaraz in a mouth-watering clash on Friday, November 17.

Meanwhile, the world no.1 Novak Djokovic suffered a big blow on his way to record seventh ATP Finals title on Wednesday. The 24-time Grand Slam winner suffered a defeat against Italian youngster Jannik Sinner by 5-7, 7-6, 6-7 in his second match. Djokovic is set to face Hubert Hurkacz in his last group stage game on Thursday and remains favourite to top the Green Group.

source: http://www.indiatvnews.com / Indian TV / Home> English News> Sports> Tennis / by Sumeet Kavthale, New Delhi / November 16th, 2023

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden win men’s doubles title at Qatar Open 2023

no photo
(Twitter)

On Friday, Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden took home the men’s doubles championship in the Qatar Open 2023 tennis competition in Doha. The pair defeated Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and Constant Lestienne of France 6(5)-7(7), 6-4, 10-6.

It was Rohan Bopanna’s second victory in the Qatar Open. He had finished second last year with Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the doubles competition after winning it in 2020 with his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

Throughout his career, Rohan Bopanna has already won 23 doubles championships. It was his first time playing alongside current Wimbledon  doubles winner Matthew Ebden. At Tel Aviv, Pune, and Adelaide, the Indian tennis player won three championships last year. Bopanna’s first championship of 2023 was the ATP 250 victory in Qatar.

Bopanna and Ebden also advanced to the Rotterdam Open ATP 500 final last week, but they fell to Austin Krajicek of the USA and Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the match tiebreaker following the winning point.

The third-seeded Indian-Australian combination in Doha on Friday had a break advantage at 6-5 in the first set before being pushed back and dropping the set in a tiebreaker. In the second game, both defences improved, and the teams maintained their serves until the ninth game. Bopanna and Ebden, though, triumphed in the tenth game to force a match tiebreak.

Bopanna is ranked No. 37 in the world and No. 17 in the ATP doubles rankings. The match tiebreaker was won in 99 minutes by Ebden after they successfully converted four of six break-point opportunities.

source: http://www.sportscafe.in / Sportscafe / Home> Tennis> National> News / by SportsCafe Desk / February 25th, 2023

An Indian and a Pakistani Fight Together for a Grand Slam of Fairy-Tale Coincidences

India’s UN envoy Hardeep Singh Puri shakes hands with Qureshi as Bopanna (second from left) and Pakistan ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon look on in New York. Jay Mandal/ On Assignment

Sept. 9: If there ever was a Grand Slam of political correctness, it will unfold tomorrow at Flushing Meadows.

Before you say “Yuck!” and turn the page, consider the conspiracy of coincidences.

• An Indian and a Pakistani will play in a Grand Slam final at the US Open on Friday.

• Forgot to mention: they will play on the same side.

• On the stands will be the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors to the UN. They were there on Wednesday night when the two stormed into the final.

• Sania Mirza, whose marriage raised the question which cricket team will she support, and her husband Shoaib Malik can finally support the same team. And they play her game.

• Finally, did you notice that the match is taking place on the eve of Id and Ganesh Chaturthi, which fall on the same day this year?

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi may or may not win the US Open men’s doubles final on Friday.

But the 30-year-olds will add the taut thwack of the tennis racquet to the coliseum of sport diplomacy that so far has been echoing with the zing of the ping pong and the thud of the willow smacking leather.

For the good souls who refuse to give up and religiously light candles on the Wagah border each year, Bopanna and Qureshi, dubbed the “Indo-Pak Express”, may seem like a made-to-order dream come true.

Bopanna, who traces his roots to Coorg, and Qureshi, born in Lahore, first played together in 2003 but did not become devoted teammates until this year, when they played under the slogan “Stop War, Start Tennis”.

Both acknowledge the burden of expectations they carry. “It’s a great feeling to know that you can make a difference,” Bopanna said. “Hopefully, this will encourage a healthier relationship between India and Pakistan.

Qureshi concedes that the peace initiative has changed their lives. “I think what changed both our careers was when we became ambassadors of peace…. The first time we initiated our campaign about Stop War and Start Tennis, I think, was the main week everybody started to take notice of it,” Qureshi said.

Peace and Sport, an organisation in Monaco which promotes reconciliation through sport, supplied them with T-shirts and sweatshirts with the slogan: “Stop War, Start Tennis.”

Joë Bouzou, president and founder of Peace and Sport, said of the new Indo-Pakistan tennis alliance: “Their story of friendship through sport is a real inspiration for youngsters.”

But don’t take the bilateral bond too far. The two do not profess to be similar.

“We don’t have many things in common, to be honest,” Qureshi said. “He likes spicy food; I don’t. He likes to dance to slow songs; I don’t. He’s got a big game; I don’t.”

The pair’s advance has come at a time Pakistan is going though crises on multiple fronts: the war on terror has bitterly divided the country, floodwaters are ravaging its hinterland and the lone shining beacon of cricket is now caught in a “spot-fixing” scandal.

“I can’t thank Rohan enough for being my partner and playing with me. Pakistan has been going through a lot for the last two or three years from all the terrorist attacks and the flooding now for the last few months and the cricket scandal also,” Qureshi said.

Bopanna pointed to one tangible accomplishment. “We are glad that our journey is bringing people together and also having a positive impact,” he said.

Yes, they did make some twain meet. Among the spectators yesterday when Bopanna and Qureshi beat Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos to advance to their first Grand Slam final were the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri and Abdullah Hussain Haroon, respectively.

It was the first time that any two diplomats from India and Pakistan had sat together to watch them play. “It was a beautiful thing to see,” Qureshi said

Perhaps aware of the role chance as well as compulsions play in such pairings, Puri was somewhat circumspect. He merely chose to say that “this is sports, but it shows the great potential”. Haroon was more forthright: “Hardeep and I are in the New York area and we are always looking for avenues to open and this is a magnificent one.” 

But both will be aware that sport diplomacy — which mesmerised people in 1971 when an American team played ping pong in China in what was immortalised as the “ping heard around the world” — has set up false dawns in the past in the subcontinent.

The wily Zia-ul Haq twice scored brownie runs on the cricket pitch (see chart)but failed to pull India and Pakistan out of the rut of mistrust.

The tennis truce has come at a time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is spearheading a peace initiative with Pakistan. It may appear ironic that Singh’s decision not to attend the UN General Assembly this month and risk another fruitless meeting in New York with the Pakistani leadership may actually help his cause of peace with Islamabad.

The high-decibel publicity for the Indo-Pak Express at the US Open this week appears to have resulted in an inevitability that the two countries must now make some progress towards tennis diplomacy to supplement their ongoing joint efforts for more people-to-people exchanges.

Some tennis buffs may feel that it is just as well, therefore, that the Prime Minister is excusing himself from the General Assembly and, instead, sending external affairs minister S.M. Krishna in his place to New York. Tennis is as close to Krishna’s heart as politics.

It may thus turn out that as it gets closer to another meeting between Krishna and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, tennis may act as a guarantee against a fresh round of accusations of bad faith.

Among Americans who are never lagging in offers of overt and covert help in taking forward the India-Pakistan peace process, there are already whispers about the Bopanna-Qureshi tango and the presence of their respective UN ambassadors eventually leading to a match with a court on their volatile border.

But the Indians are acutely aware that like in almost everything else, in tennis too, it is not a relationship of equals between India and Pakistan. Pakistan simply does not have many top tennis players, so Qureshi turned to someone with whom he has subcontinental compatibility.

Forget such nitpicking for a day and let Sania have the last word.

Sania tweeted using Bopanna’s nickname Bofors (yes, the gun that helped beat back the Kargil invaders): “wooowwww!! U guys on fire:) well done bofors… Sports and love can bring ANYTHING together… who would have thought Indians and Pakistanis would be cheering for the same team to win!”

WITH INPUTS FROM NYTNS, ARCHIS MOHAN AND OUR SPORTS BUREAU

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / Front page> Story / by K.P. Nayar / Friday Sep 10th, 2010