India’s Tennis Star Rohan Bapanna Becomes Oldest 1st-Time World No 1 in Doubles

India’s tennis star Rohan Bopanna became the oldest first-time world no. 1 in the history of tennis as he and partner Matthew Ebden qualified for the Australian Open 2024 men’s doubles semi-final.

Bopanna entered the tournament with a career-high ranking of world no. 3 in doubles and will now be elevated to the top spot when the rankings are revised on Monday after the end of the Australian Open.

Bopanna and Ebden defeated Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the quarterfinals.

After securing the world’s No. 1 spot, Bopanna said “India and Indian tennis needed this”.

“First of all, Thank you so much, it’s been an incredible 20 years playing this tournament week in, week out, and today, reaching the No. 1 ranking, it’s an extremely amazing and proud feeling. It probably hasn’t sunk in fully yet but still credit to the entire team, especially, the family, coach, physio, and everyone behind the scenes who play such a hugely important role and always keep me positive,” he said after the quarter-final match. And of course, my partner Matt Ebden,” he said.

Bopanna and Ebden will now face China’s Zhizhen Zhang and Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac in the semi-finals on Thursday to confirm their place in the final.