Just under a week ago, Rohan Bopanna proved that when it comes to excellence, age is no bar. At 43 years old, the Indian tennis star became the oldest men's Grand Slam winner, accompanying Australia's Matthew Ebden in a men's doubles triumph that sent a surge of jubilation throughout the country. (More Tennis News)
A few days after his Australian Open 2024 victory, Bopanna climbed to the top of the ATP Doubles Rankings, becoming the most experienced individual to do so in history.
With a Grand Slam in the bag, Bopanna has set his sights onto the next target: Paris Olympics 2024.
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While Bopanna will surely participate in the tournament, the identity of his partner remains up for discussion at the time of writing. As much was confirmed by the man himself in a recent interview.
“Definitely, it’s going to be great that we have a representation in the men’s doubles (in Paris). Who I’m going to play with is yet to be confirmed. June is the deadline, so I need to pick a partner. Mixed doubles will not happen because there is no girl ranked high enough to qualify. The only event currently guaranteed is men’s doubles," Bopanna said, as quoted by Indian sports publication, Sportskeeda.
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"The French Open won’t make any difference in terms of preparing for the Olympics because I will be playing with Matt Ebden at the French Open. I won’t be playing with an Indian partner. After that whoever I play with, I just need to try and hope we get at least one or two tournaments."
Owing to his world ranking, Bopanna will be provided a direct slot in the Paris Olympics men's doubles tennis tournament. As per competition rules, of the 32 places on offer, ten are reserved for the players in the top ten of their respective doubles rankings, who can subsequently select any compatriot as long as he or she are ranked inside the 300-mark.
Bopanna, who is the world's best-ranked men's doubles player as per the latest ATP rankings, is guaranteed a spot in the Paris Olympics draw at the time of writing, as long as his partner is ranked 300 or below.
By his own admission, Bopanna will be unable to play in the mixed doubles event, owing to the poor ranking of Indian female tennis doubles players. He will, however, compete in the men's doubles category and have a selection of partners to choose from too!
Currently, Bopanna can select between Yuki Bhambri (60), N Sriram Balaji (78), Vijay Sundar Prashanth (80), and Anirudh Chandrasekar (89) to partner him in Paris.
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Whom he selects, though, remains to be seen.
