Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna on Monday climbed to World No. 1 within the doubles rankings for the primary time after profitable the Australian Open with Matthew Ebden, as ATP introduced for the newest doubles rankings. At the age of 43, Bopanna turned the oldest first-time World No. 1 and the third Indian to realize the milestone (after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom he gained two titles). “India needed this. We don’t really have many tennis players coming up,” mentioned Bopanna as quoted by ATP. “Sport is slowly coming up. I think it’s just going to inspire a lot of people. I don’t think just in tennis. People all over the world, being 40 and above, I think it’s just going to inspire them in a different way,” he added.

Bopanna gained his first males’s doubles Grand Slam on the Australian Open 2024 on Saturday, transferring up two positions within the ATP Rankings.

He started the season’s first main tied for third place, a place he had beforehand held in 2013. Bopanna and Ebden overcame Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni within the quarter-finals, making certain the Indian’s ascension to World No. 1, regardless of going through challenges alongside the way in which.

“For me to get to World No. 1, I think [is thanks to] my perseverance to the sport, to stay in it and to keep fighting and to keep working hard and have such a great partner by my side. I think the consistent year we had last year is why this helped me get to this stage,” Bopanna mentioned.

Bopanna has had a terrific affiliation with Ebden, which started initially of the 2023 season.

In their debut yr collectively, they certified for the coveted ATP Finals, with Bopanna making his fourth participation and Ebden making his first.

“In hindsight, it would have been amazing if we would have played for a long period of time, but still, we are enjoying where we are today, and I think there are no real complaints on that. You grow as a team. I think we have also learned from each other, what works for us, what our strengths are, and how we can improve,” the Indian mentioned.

Bopanna and Ebden have the identical variety of ATP Doubles Rankings factors, however the Indian is on the high since he performed three fewer tournaments to achieve them. Ebden complimented his companion on their success.

“It was a big goal of ours when we started this partnership over a year ago and we talked about it. We made our intentions clear, ‘I want to get to World No. 1, win the Slams, the big tournaments.’ We have ticked a lot of boxes the last year and this is another one of those. A huge milestone. It’s an incredible thing for Bops, especially at his age,” Ebden mentioned.