Rohan Bopanna capped off a sensational fortnight at Melbourne with a maiden Grand Slam title in males’s doubles. While scripting his best-ever run at Australian Open, he additionally assured himself the world No. 1 rating, grew to become the oldest participant to win a Grand Slam for the primary time, and was shortlisted for the Padma Shri.

Bopanna’s feat left compatriots and former colleagues Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman, watching from the commentary field alongside Purav Raja, “speechless”.

Partnering Australia’s Matthew Ebden, Bopanna beat Italy’s Simone Boleli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday for his second profession main.

Speaking on Sony Sports Network, Sania Mirza was all reward for Bopanna.

“We said this at the beginning of last week, that what if he becomes the men’s No.1 in the world and wins the men’s doubles title? He has done it and we were speechless. We could not be more proud, as an Indian, but more as a friend,” mentioned Sania, who performed her closing Slam match final yr on the Rod Laver Arena alongside Bopanna in combined doubles.

Somdev, former India No. 1 in singles, hailed the sacrifices Bopanna made in his two-decade-long profession. “Enough good things cannot be said about this man. This is the culmination of the sacrifices that he has put in,” he mentioned.

Bopanna is now solely the third Indian man to win a doubles main within the Open Era after Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who’ve gained eight and 4 Slams, respectively, of which three got here as a workforce. He can be the primary Indian to win a males’s doubles title at Melbourne Park since 2012, the final being Paes, partnering with Radek Stepanek.