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At 43 years and 329 days, India’s tennis star Rohan Bopanna secured his position as the oldest man to win a Grand Slam. Alongside his men’s doubles partner Matthew Ebden, they emerged victorious at the Australian Open by defeating Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5, in a gripping encounter. This marked Bopanna’s second Grand Slam triumph, the first being the 2017 French Open in mixed doubles with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. Following the Rod Laver Arena final, Bopanna attributed his success to his wife, Supriya Annaiah Bopanna.
However, a previously shared quote from Bopanna about his wife has gained widespread attention on social media. Earlier this month, Bopanna disclosed how Supriya provided motivation and support during his challenging phase.
“My wife eloquently put it one day, ‘when you transform limitations into opportunities, everything changes.’ We are consistently told that at 25 certain things must happen, by 30 another set of expectations, and by 40 something else. This constant narrative applies to both sports and life, including aspects like marriage and having children. However, when you view these as opportunities, the limitations dissipate,” reminisced Bopanna, as reported 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
“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
Following the final, Bopanna also disclosed that a few years ago, he contemplated retirement from the sport.
“My lovely wife, Supriya, and my daughter, Tridha… thank you for all the support, all the love. I remember a couple of years ago, I sent her a video message and said, ‘I’m going to call it a day.’ Because I wasn’t winning matches at all. I went 5 months without winning a match. I thought that was going to be the end of my journey. Perseverance inside me just kept me going. I really changed so many things and found a wonderful partner,” he added.
With Ebden as his partner, Bopanna is set to become the oldest number one in men’s doubles history when the new rankings are released next week.
