Updated on: Nov 01, 2025 02:48 pm IST
Rohan Bopanna announced his retirement from tennis at the age of 45, and steps away as one of India’s finest ever tennis exports. His record-breaking state.
Rohan Bopanna announced his retirement from tennis at the age of 45, drawing a close to a career that has seen him reach some of his highest levels as the elder statesman of the tour. Taking a step away as a two-time grand slam champion and a former doubles world number one, Bopanna can look back at a career as a legend of Indian sport, and a multiple-record holder in tennis annals.
Here is a look at some of his greatest career records, many of them achieved in the twilight of his career.
Oldest man to win a Grand Slam doubles title
14 years after his first doubles grand slam final, Bopanna reached his last. Alongside Matt Ebden at the Australian Open in 2024, Bopanna made use of his big serving and incredible skills at the net to blitz through the draw.
Winning at the age of 43, just a month shy of his 44th birthday, Bopanna became the oldest man to lift a major title, in singles and doubles alike. Pure longevity in a sport that has seen some historic individuals play into their 40s.
Oldest player to reach world number one
Enroute to that men’s doubles title, Bopanna also took the mantle of men’s doubles world number one, the first Indian player to do so than Leander Paes in 1999. He was also therefore the oldest player to become a world number one, in men’s or women’s, in either doubles or singles.
The importance of the moment wasn’t lost on Bopanna: after the win that earned him that rank for the first time in his career, he said: “People all over the world, being 40 and above, it’s just going to inspire them in a different way.”
Oldest winner at a Masters 1000 event
The same year, not too long after that triumph in Melbourne, Bopanna also became the oldest player to win a Masters 1000 event. It was once again alongside Matt Ebden the Australian, as the pair lifted the trophy at the Miami Masters 1000 event that March. This win broke the record Bopanna himself had set the year prior with his win at Indian Wells.
Bopanna also joined Paes as the only two Indian players to reach the final at each of the nine Masters 1000 events on the ATP tour.
