Rohan Bopanna to become oldest world no.1 after reaching Australian Open semis

Veteran Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna is set to become the oldest world number one tennis player in men's doubles after defeating Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The Indian veteran along with his Australian partner Matthew Ebden defeated sixth-seeded Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni comfortably 6-4,7-6 (5) in a match that lasted one hour and 46 minutes.

In the semifinals, the second-seeded Indo-Australian pair will cross swords with unseeded Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang. This is the maiden Australian Open semifinal appearance for Rohan Bopanna.

The 43-year-old entered the tournament with a career-high ranking of world number three and will be crowned the number one ranking on Monday after the end of the tournament.

Bopanna will become the fourth Indian after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Sania Mirza to take the world number one position in doubles. He will take over the top position from USA's Austin Krajicek, who and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig lost in the second round.

On the other hand, Matthew Ebden will become the new number two in the world.

Bopanna-Ebden defeated Nikola Mektic and Wesley Koolhoof (7-6 (8), 7-4 (4)), J Millman and E. Winter (6-2, 6-4), and J Duckworth and M Polmans (7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (2)) in the earlier rounds of the Australian Open 2023.

Bopanna won the mixed doubles title at the French Open in 2017 alongside Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski. However, a title has eluded him in men's doubles, having finished runner-up twice at the US Open in 2010 with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and in 2023 with Ebden.

Bopanna is also the oldest player to claim a men's doubles title at a Masters 1000 event. He achieved the feat last year at the age of 43 with Ebden, winning the prestigious Indian Wells tournament.