Rohan Bopanna: Tennis star becomes oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion



CNN

Rohan Bopanna proved that age was just a number by becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion at age 43 who won the BNP Paribas Open Men’s Doubles.

Together with playing partner Matthew Ebden, the unseeded pair sent the top duo of Wesley Koolhoff and Neil Skupsky to capture the men’s doubles title at indian wells, winning 6-3 2-6 10-8.

The triumph was the pair’s second joint title following last month’s success in Doha at the Qatar Open. Bopanna called the victory “truly special”.

“It is called Tennis Paradise for some reason. I’ve been coming here for many years and I’ve seen all these guys win and I’m very happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here, ”he said, according to Reuters.

Bopanna moved to 11th in doubles.

By winning his 24th tour-level trophy, the former World No. 3 in doubles broke the record for the oldest Masters champion held by former partner Daniel Nestor.

Bopanna attributed the feat to his coffee consumption, according to Reuters. “This is the Indian coffee that I drink all the time when I travel,” he explained. “It’s a secret. The most important thing is to recover well after matches, and that helped me a lot.”

The Indian, whose family owns a coffee plantation in the Indian state of Karnataka, added: “Sometimes I tell Matt that I’ve only been training for 20 minutes, but I would rather rest and be ready for our matches.”

Ebden and Bopanna put together an 11-4 record this season and moved up to 18th and 11th in the ATP doubles rankings respectively.