India's tennis star Rohan Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam after he and his men's doubles partner Matthew Ebden won the Australia Open on Saturday. Bopanna (aged 43 years 329 days) and Ebden defeated Italy's Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets 7-6, 7-5 in a thrilling encounter. This was only Bopanna's second Grand Slam succes, having won the the 2017 French Open in mixed doubles with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski. After the final at the Rod Laver Arena, the 43-year-old credited his wife Supriya Annaiah Bopanna for his success.
Having said that, Bopanna's old quote on his wife has gone viral on social media. Earlier this month, Bopanna revealed how Supriya motivated him during his lean patch.
"My wife said it beautifully one day, 'when you change limitations to opportunities, everything changes.' We are always told at 25 this has to happen, by 30 this has to happen, at 40 this will happen. It's a thing which is told to us constantly, whether it is sport or life, whether it is marriage, having kids, whatever it may be. But when you change that into opportunities, then the limitations go away," Bopanna recalled, as quoted by ESPN.
"Age truly is not a number for this guy. He's young at heart, he's a warrior" @mattebden @rohanbopanna #AusOpen #AO2024https://t.co/BwLQeTiPv1
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2024
After the final, Bopanna also reaveled that a few years ago he was thinking about his retirement from the sport.
"My beautiful wife, Supriya, & my daughter, Tridha.. thank you for all the support, all the love. I know a couple years ago I sent her a video message & said 'I'm gonna call it a day.' Because I wasn't winning matches at all. I went 5 months without winning a match. I thought that was gonna be the end of my journey. Perseverance inside me just kept me going. I really changed so many things & found a wonderful partner," he added.
With Ebden in company, Bopanna will soon will become the oldest number one in men's doubles history when the new rankings are released next week.
from NDTV News- Topstories https://ift.tt/c5FMrGA
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