India star Rohan Bopanna made Gran Slam historical past as he progressed to the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2024 males’s doubles occasion. Bopanna and his companion Matthew Ebden reached the semi-finals with a straight-sets win in opposition to the Argentine pair of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni on Wednesday. Courtesy of the quarter-final win within the Australian Open, Bopanna will grow to be the No. 1 males’s doubles participant on this planet, on the age of 43. When the rankings are up to date, he’ll grow to be the oldest participant within the sport’s historical past to clinch the numero uno spot.
The feat comes lower than a yr after Bopanna grew to become the oldest man to qualify for a grand slam ultimate within the Open period, when he and his companion Ebden misplaced the US Open 2023 ultimate. Bopanna had made his debut greater than 20 years in the past.
Bopanna entered the Australian Open with a career-high rating of No. 3. Having progressed to the semi-finals of the yr’s first Gran Slam, the veteran Indian is assured of changing into the brand new No. 1 when the rankings shall be up to date subsequent week. His males’s doubles companion Mathew Ebden, is assured of the No. 2 spot spot in males’s doubles rankings.
BOPANNA TO BECOME WORLD NO 1 FOR THE FIRST TIME AT AGE 43@rohanbopanna will attain the rankings summit as he strikes into the SF of the Australian Open pic.twitter.com/4ne80n0qZ7
— Indian Tennis Every day (ITD) (@IndTennisDaily) January 24, 2024
Earlier, Bopanna and Ebden sealed a spot within the males’s doubles quarterfinals of the Australian Open with a victory over Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in a good two-set match 7-6 (8), 7-6 (4) in Melbourne Park.
Koolhof-Mektic took the early initiative and claimed the lead, breaking the 43-year-old Bopanna’s function early because the second recreation of the opening set. To offset the lead, the Indo-Australian duo counterattacked within the seventh recreation, breaking Mektic.
Bopanna-Ebden’s experience helped them win 10-8 within the tiebreaker after the set finally went to it.
The second group adopted an identical sample as nicely. Within the sixth recreation, Koolhof-Mektic secured the primary break level by breaking Bopanna as soon as extra. The rating was tied at 6-6 when Bopanna and Ebden broke Mektic within the eighth inning.
In an hour and forty-three minutes, Bopanna-Ebden emerged victorious in a tie-break set and secured their place within the quarterfinal.
With ANI inputs
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