Indian tennis witnessed the end of an era this week as Rohan Bopanna announced his retirement from professional tennis after more than two decades on the ATP Tour.
His farewell came fittingly at the Paris Masters 1000, a stage symbolic of his longevity and excellence. For a man who redefined age, resilience, and national pride, this moment is both an ending and a new beginning.
“How do you bid farewell to something that gave your life its meaning?” Bopanna said. “After 20 unforgettable years on tour, it’s time I’m officially hanging up my racquet. Representing India has been the greatest honour of my life, and every time I stepped on court, I played for that flag, that feeling, that pride.”
In a sport dominated by youth and dominated physically, Rohan Bopanna did the unthinkable he peaked in his 40s. His career is a testament to how experience, adaptability, and sheer willpower can defy the biological clock.
By the time he retired, Bopanna had achieved a series of milestones that place him among the greatest doubles players of the Open Era:
•2 Grand Slam titles – 2017 Roland Garros (Mixed Doubles) and 2024 Australian Open (Men’s Doubles)
•World No. 1 ranking in doubles (January 2024)
•6 ATP Masters 1000 titles
•26 ATP Tour titles overall
•Oldest World No. 1, Oldest Grand Slam champion, and Oldest Masters 1000 winner in ATP history
•A two-decade Davis Cup career representing India
In an era of physical intensity, Bopanna’s story reads like a masterclass in longevity. When most players his age were deep into coaching or commentary, he was lifting trophies and rewriting records.
Bopanna’s rise wasn’t meteoric; it was methodical. His first big breakthrough came not as a singles player but as a doubles specialist a strategic shift that changed his destiny.
The turning point arrived in 2010, when his partnership with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi captured global imagination. Their chemistry on court and their “Stop War, Start Tennis” campaign off it made them global ambassadors for peace through sport.
That same year, they reached the US Open final, announcing India’s return to elite doubles tennis after the Bhupathi–Paes era.
Yet, his true golden phase came much later. In 2017, at 37, Bopanna captured his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski. Seven years later, he achieved his career-defining triumph the 2024 Australian Open men’s doubles title with Australia’s Matthew Ebden at the age of 43 years and 11 months.
The victory made him the oldest Grand Slam champion in men’s doubles history, a record that may never be broken. A few weeks later, he ascended to World No. 1, becoming the oldest player in ATP history to do so.
And as if to underscore his mastery, he claimed another Masters 1000 title in Miami, extending his legend as the oldest Masters winner ever.
Behind these remarkable feats lay a carefully engineered reinvention. By his own admission, Bopanna’s knees had “no cartilage left.” Continuing on tour required more than determination it required innovation.
From 2020 onward, he overhauled his physical routine. Iyengar Yoga became central to his life an unlikely but transformative addition. The slow, precise postures helped stabilize his joints and strengthen his core. “Yoga changed my career,” he once said. “It gave me calmness, control, and the strength to keep competing.”
His support team became as vital as his racquet. Physiotherapist Rebecca Van Orshaegen, who worked with him from 2022, managed a daily recovery protocol that included ice baths, compression therapy, and mobility sessions.
This shift from heavy gym workouts to recovery-focused training mirrored the evolution of modern sports science one where longevity is engineered, not accidental.
It’s a model India’s next generation of athletes can learn from: train smarter, not harder.
The Coorg Foundation and Early Lessons
Bopanna’s roots in Coorg played a defining role in shaping his physical and mental toughness. Growing up amid coffee plantations, his earliest training tools were unconventional logs, hammers, and miles of forest trails.
He would chop wood to build upper-body strength and run through hilly estates to develop endurance. Those formative years laid the foundation for the explosive serve that became his trademark weapon often among the fastest in doubles tennis.
That raw, functional strength built in Coorg, combined with modern recovery science, created a blend of traditional grit and contemporary precision that sustained his career well into his forties.
Beyond trophies, Bopanna’s story is inseparable from the Indian tricolour. He was not merely a professional athlete he was a patriot in motion.
He represented India at three Olympic Games London 2012, Rio 2016, and Paris 2024. His closest brush with Olympic glory came in Rio, where he and Sania Mirza narrowly missed the bronze medal in mixed doubles.
He played over 20 years of Davis Cup, often serving as the emotional core of the team. While India’s results fluctuated, Bopanna’s commitment never did. Few Indian players have shouldered the tricolour across so many international arenas for so long.
Add to that an Asian Games gold in 2018 (Jakarta) and multiple continental medals — Bopanna’s legacy stands as one of India’s most complete sporting careers.
If his career was defined by excellence, his humanity was defined by empathy. His partnership with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi wasn’t just successful on court it was historic off it. Together, they used tennis as a diplomatic bridge between India and Pakistan, creating the campaign “Stop War, Start Tennis.”
The initiative earned them global acclaim, including the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award (2010) and the Peace and Sport Image of the Year Award.
For Bopanna, sport was always more than medals. It was a medium of connection between countries, communities, and generations.
Building the Future: Bopanna 2.0
Retirement, for Rohan Bopanna, isn’t an ending. It’s an evolution.
Through the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy (RBTA) and his collaboration with UTR Pro Tennis Tour, he’s working to reshape the landscape of Indian tennis.
“Unfortunately, there are no tournaments in the country, so you have to travel outside, doing it all by yourself,” he noted.
To solve that, Bopanna has brought the UTR system to India a globally recognised rating structure that allows local players to gain international visibility without the prohibitive costs of foreign travel.
His academy, based on the “3-Pillar Model” Fitness First, Right Basics, Play Smart blends technical, tactical, and psychological training. It’s designed to produce complete athletes capable of sustaining global careers, not just flashes of success.
He has also launched the Bhoomi Program, a grassroots initiative that identifies and trains underprivileged children from underrepresented regions like the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir. The program offers full scholarships education, accommodation, and international coaching support with the goal of nurturing 100 players over the next decade.
This ecosystem UTR Tour + RBTA + Bhoomi represents Bopanna’s vision for a self-sustaining Indian tennis pipeline.
The Indian government and sporting fraternity have recognized his immense contributions:
•Padma Shri (2024)
•Arjuna Award (2019)
•Ekalavya Award (2005)
Each honour underscores a journey defined by perseverance, professionalism, and patriotism.
Rohan Bopanna retires as India’s most successful active tennis player but numbers only tell half the story.
He changed how Indian athletes view longevity. He showed that success need not end at 30, that experience can trump youth, and that reinvention is the ultimate skill. He also left behind a playbook one that future Indian athletes can follow:
•Invest in recovery and sports science.
•Adapt your methods, not your dreams.
•Give back to the system that made you.
Epilogue: The Eternal Serve
From chopping wood in Coorg to standing under the floodlights of Melbourne, Rohan Bopanna’s career was never just about the scoreline. It was about pride, purpose, and persistence.
As he steps away from competition, his greatest legacy may not be his two Grand Slam trophies or his World No. 1 ranking. It may be the hundreds of young Indians who pick up a racquet believing they, too, can serve at 44 and still win.
In the story of Indian tennis, his chapter ends not with a full stop, but with an ace.
