Anand Piramal with Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza and Purav Raja© Instagram
Rohan Bopanna recebtly became the toast of the nation as he won the Australian Open men’s doubles title. Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam after clinching the Australian Open 2024 men’s doubles title, pairing with Matthew Ebden. Bopanna, who is set to turn 44 in March this year, also celebrated becoming the oldest number one in men’s doubles history by winning the title in Melbourne on Saturday. The second seeds claimed a 7-6 (7/0), 7-5 victory over unseeded Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori on Rod Laver Arena.
On Friday, he was involved in a Pickleball match with industrialist Anand Piramal, tennis stars Sania Mirza and Purav Raja. Pickleball is a sport that is quite similar to tennis and can be played both indoors and outdoors. But paddles and hollow plastic balls are used in the game.
“What a dream playing pickleball with my buddy and tennis legend #puravraja against two of the WORLD’s greatest tennis players @mirzasaniar and @rohanbopanna0403 (For Bops it was as big as his Australian Open Final),” Piramal wrote on his Instagram Story, which was re-shared by Sania Mirza.
Bopanna also became only the third Indian to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam title. In a high-quality game of tennis, Bopanna and Ebden won the final that lasted one hour and 39 minutes.
Only the iconic Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have won Major titles for India in men’s tennis while trailblazer Sania Mirza did it in women’s tennis.
For Bopanna it is his second Grand Slam title, having won the French Open mixed doubles with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017.
At 43, Bopanna also became the oldest Grand Slam champion in men’s tennis. He bettered the record of Jean-Julien Rojer who, at age of 40, had lifted the French Open men’s doubles trophy in 2022 with Marcelo Arevola.
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