Rohan Bopanna, 43 Wins In California; Becomes Oldest Ever ATP Champ

India-West News Desk

INDIAN WELLS, CA – Rohan Bopanna became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he and his Australian partner Matt Ebden won the men’s doubles title at the BNP Paribas Open here on March 18.

Bopanna, 43, and Ebden, 35, defeated top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Britain 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

“Truly special. It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason,” said Bopanna, who was playing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final.“I’ve been, over the years, coming here and seeing all these guys win for so many years. I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here.It’s been some tough matches, close matches. Today we played against one of the best teams out there. Really happy that we got the trophy.”

Before Bopanna Daniel Nestor of Canada, when he had won the 2015 Cincinnati Masters was the oldest champion at 42 years.

The Indo-Australian pair stunned defending and two-time desert titlists John Isner and Jack Sock in the semi-finals, while getting the better off Canadian singles stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the quarters.