Novak Djokovic reacts to Rohan Bopanna becoming oldest World no.1: 'At such a young age'

Rohan Bopanna received a congratulatory message from Novak Djokovic for becoming the oldest World No.1 in men's doubles.

Wednesday was a historic day for Indian tennis supporters after doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna was confirmed to become the oldest player to be ranked number one in the world, for the first time, after he and his partner Matt Ebden defeated Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Australian Open.

The 43-year-old received numerous congratulatory messages on social media for his achievement including one from reigning men's singles champion Novak Djokovic, who posted a story on Instagram praising the Indian for becoming the numero uno ranked player in the world.

"Congratulations Bops. Amazing effort. And to do it at such a young age. Even more impressive," Djokovic wrote on Wednesday.

Novak Djokovic's congratulatory post for Rohan Bopanna. (Image credit: NovakDjokovic/Instagram).

Bopanna had said that he felt extremely proud to have become World No.1 and him reaching the top of the rankings has occurred due to the sacrifices made by the family and coaches.

"Extremely proud of this (world no.1 ranking in men’s doubles). It’s a special moment. Lot of sacrifices have gone into this. My coaches, family everyone. My family is travelling with me, so different feeling," he told PTI in an interview.

"It (the feat) means a lot not to just me but for Indian tennis also. You need something to inspire the next generation. Sumit (Nagal) also had a great Australian Open. He won a round," he added.

On Thursday, Bopanna showed that getting to World No.1 had not subdued his motivation of winning the tournament after he and Ebden reached the men's doubles final after beating Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-7) in the semifinal clash.

Also read: Rohan Bopanna becomes oldest world number 1, scripts tennis history