Ace Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna broke his record to remain the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion as he and his Australian partner Matt Ebden secured the men’s doubles title at the Miami Open.
Continuing their strong performance this year, the 44-year-old Bopanna and Ebden rallied from a set down to secure an exciting 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 victory over Ivan Dodig from Croatia and American Austin Krajicek at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.
With this victory, Bopanna surpassed his previous record set last year when he won the Indian Wells title at the age of 43 and also reclaimed the top spot in the doubles ranking. “It’s incredible. Doing well in these big events is what we aim for,” Bopanna said after the win.
“I aim to perform well in the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams. Keeping this record going and challenging others is satisfying,” added Bopanna, who won his first doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year.
This marked Bopanna’s 14th ATP Masters 1000 final. It was his 63rd ATP Tour-level final and 26th doubles title. Bopanna also accomplished a rare feat by becoming the second Indian, after Leander Paes, to reach the final of all nine ATP Masters events.
Bopanna and Ebden, the top seeds for the tournament, relied on their extensive experience to secure the final six points of the match. Although they had three set points on serve at 6-5 in the first set, their opponents held off all three to force a tiebreaker before taking a 1-0 lead.
“It’s challenging. These opponents fight back in tough moments,” said Ebden. “Last time we played them, it was similar. It’s a bit of a back-and-forth. They return well, make a lot of shots, and we missed one or two shots when we were leading [at the end of] the first set.
They played a great tie-break, and then we just reset.” Bopanna and Ebden then made a comeback as they broke their opponents early in the second set, leveling the game.
Similar to the opening sets, the tiebreaker was closely contested, with the reigning Australian Open champions emerging victorious. Following their Australian Open win, Bopanna rose to the world No.1 spot in the ATP rankings, becoming the oldest player to achieve this feat.
However, he dropped to the second spot in the doubles rankings after a quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Championships and a round-of-32 exit at the Indian Wells Masters. But with this win, the pair will reclaim the top spot.
