Rohan Bopanna: Tennis star becomes oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion
Rohan Bopanna (left) and Matthew Ebden (right) celebrate winning the BNP Paribas Open.
By Charlie Webster, CNN
Rohan Bopanna proved age was just a number after becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion at 43 years old, with victory in the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles.
Alongside playing partner Matthew Ebden, the unseeded pair dispatched top-ranked duo Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, to claim the men’s doubles title at Indian Wells, winning 6-3 2-6 10-8.
The triumph was the pair’s second title together following last month’s success in Doha at the Qatar open. Bopanna described the win as “Truly special.”
“It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason. I’ve been coming here over the years and seeing all these guys win and I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here,” he said, per Reuters.
In winning his 24th tour-level trophy, the former doubles world number three broke the record for oldest masters champion held by former partner Daniel Nestor.
According to Reuters, Bopanna credited the feat to his coffee consumption. “It’s the Indian coffee that I keep having when traveling,” he explained. “That’s the secret. The biggest thing is to make sure you recover well after matches and that’s really helped me.”
The Indian, whose family own a coffee plantation in the Indian state of Karnataka, added: “Some days I tell Matt I maybe just practiced 20 minutes, but I’d rather rest the body and be ready for our matches.”
Ebden and Bopanna now hold an 11-4 record together this season and have moved up to 18th and 11th in the ATP doubles rankings, respectively.
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