India star Rohan Bopanna made Grand Slam history as he progressed to the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2024 men’s doubles event. Bopanna and his partner Matthew Ebden reached the semi-finals with a straight-sets win against the Argentine pair of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Wednesday. Courtesy of the quarter-final win in the Australian Open, Bopanna will become the No. 1 men’s doubles player in the world, at the age of 43. When the rankings are updated, he will become the oldest player in the sport’s history to clinch the numero uno spot.
The feat comes less than a year after Bopanna became the oldest man to qualify for a grand slam final in the Open era, when he and his partner Ebden lost the US Open 2023 final. Bopanna had made his debut more than 20 years ago.
Bopanna entered the Australian Open with a career-high ranking of No. 3. Having progressed to the semi-finals of the year’s first Grand Slam, the veteran Indian is assured of becoming the new No. 1 when the rankings will be updated next week. His men’s doubles partner Mathew Ebden, is assured of the No. 2 spot spot in men’s doubles rankings.(NDTV)