Melbourne: India's Rohan Bopanna won his first Australian Open of his career by defeating Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6, 7-5 in straight sets at the Rod Laver Arena here on Saturday.
Pairing with the Australian partner Matthew Ebdon, Bopanna became the oldest player to do so in the Open Era and his second Grand Slam title in his career.
The first set was exciting as both the pairs fought for every point, and took the game to a tiebreaker, which Bopanna and Ebdon won.
In the second set too the going was tough as it was ambling towards yet another tiebreaker with 5-all at one stage. But then, Bopanna and Ebdon broke the rival pair's serve and won the next game and took the set 7-5.
Earlier in 2017, he had won the mixed doubles title at the French Open with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski. And was runner-up twice at the US Open in men's doubles, with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in 2010, and with Abdon in 2013.
Last year, Bopanna lost the mixed doubles Australian Open with former Indian star Sania Mirza. Then the Indian pair was defeated by the Brazilian pair.
Last year too, Bopanna became the oldest person to qualify for a Grand Slam final in the Open Era. He and his partner Ebdon lost the final of the US Open 2023. The Kodagu prodigy made his debut more than 20 years ago.
Bopanna is also the oldest player to win the men's doubles title at a Masters 1000 event. and achieved this feat last year at the age of 43 by winning the Indian Wells tournament with Ebdon.