Rohan Bopanna on becoming World No. 1 men's doubles player: 'Indian tennis, India, needed this'

Rohan Bopanna, who has played three fewer tournaments than his men's doubles partner Matthew Ebden, will get the No.1 ranking when the list gets updated next week. (File)

During the pandemic (mid-2020), Rohan Bopanna discovered yoga. “It was always there in India,” he said, grinning, during a press conference at the ongoing Australian Open, “but I never really tried it (before).”

With four months of “sitting at home,” a rarity for a professional tennis player—unless injured—Bopanna found a place close to his home to practice Iyengar yoga for 90-minute sessions, four times a week, during the lockdowns. That not only strengthen his knees and body, but also made him calmer on the tennis court and focus better.

Besides, it helped him dismiss any thoughts of retirement, a decision he has toyed with on and off in the past. Post pandemic, with a new doubles partner (Australia’s Matthew Ebden since November 2022) in tow, Bopanna’s career has surged to an extent that he will soon be the world’s number one doubles player. At soon-to-be 44, Bopanna will be the oldest player to be ranked No.1 in men’s doubles.

Going into the Australian Open, which started January 14, ranked No.3 in the world, Bopanna and Ebden made enough points to be number one after winning their quarterfinal match on Wednesday. But Bopanna, who has played three fewer tournaments than Ebden, will get the No.1 ranking when the list gets updated next week.

For Bopanna, who has been playing professionally for over two decades, the achievement is a reiteration of his perseverance and passion for the sport.

“For every player, it is a dream, it was my dream—more so when you are playing this sport for a couple of decades and then at this juncture to get to world No.1… I mean, I think my perseverance to this sport, to stay in it, to keep fighting, to keep working hard …

“The consistent year we had last year is why it helped me get to this stage,” he said, after they won their semifinal match on Thursday. “It hasn’t sunk in fully. Indian tennis, India, needed this. We don’t have many tennis players coming up, sport is slowly coming up. It’s going to inspire a lot of people. I don’t think just in tennis—people all over the world, being 40 and above, it’s gonna inspire them in a different way,” he added, smiling.

Bopanna said what’s changed for him over recent times is finding what kind of recovery and training he needed in order to play at a high level. That included a lot of work on mobility, using therabands, working on his recovery with ice baths, stretching and cooling down. He hired a physio from Belgium, Rebecca Van Orshaegen, last year and told her specifically what he needed.

“I have no cartilages on my knees; it’s completely worn out,” he told reporters in Melbourne. “I told her these are my conditions: I need to strengthen my quads, my hamstrings and glutes specifically so I don’t have pain playing these matches. Even if I am not 100 percent fit on the days I am practicing, that’s fine. I want to feel 100 percent fit during matches. That’s the commitment I had with Matt (Ebden). I didn’t want to just show up on the court.”

“I (also) play less tournaments than Matt,” he added, laughing.

Only Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (in 1999) in men’s doubles and Sania Mirza (in 2015) in women’s doubles have reached the number one ranking among Indians. Bopanna had reached as high as No.3 before, in 2013. But since last year, when he became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion at Indian Wells and the oldest player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, he seemed to press harder for the top rank.

If Bopanna-Ebden win the men’s doubles final on Saturday, it would, fittingly, be the Indian’s first Grand Slam doubles title. The closest he has come is losing twice in the US Open final, last year and in 2010, besides making the semifinals—at Roland Garros in 2022, Wimbledon last year, 2015, 2013 and the US Open in 2011—though he has won a Grand Slam in mixed doubles, at Roland Garros in 2017.

This year also gives Bopanna a shot at an Olympic medal, in men’s doubles in Paris. There are currently five other Indian men in the top 100 doubles rankings, which allows Bopanna something to choose from. Playing the mixed doubles is out of the question, he said, because there is no one (woman player) ranked high enough, “unless Sania (Mirza) has a protected ranking and is coming back,” he said, smiling.

Bopanna believes his longevity—in a sport in which others like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Roger Federer have pushed their careers into the late 30s and 40s—will inspire others. Like Djokovic, he takes questions about his age lightly, talking in jest about his greying beard and looking forward to a day off (between the Australian Open semifinal and final).

“When someone hits a drop shot, I say you (go for it),” he said, laughing and pointing to Ebden sitting next to him at the press conference in Melbourne. “I don’t go after it.”

But, responds Ebden, “when I say you, you run”.

Bopanna, at 43, at the top of the world in men’s doubles rankings for the first time in his life, is not just running. He is pushing boundaries along the way that’s special in a tough, demanding global sport like tennis.