As a friend, I am proud of Rohan Bopanna: Sania Mirza in awe of India star after Australian Open 2024 title

Former tennis star Sania Mirza heaped praise on Rohan Bopanna after the latter won the Australian Open men’s doubles title.

On Saturday, January 27, at the age of 43, Bopanna became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam in the Open Era. Bopanna and Matthew Ebden beat Italy’s Simone Boleli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 at the Rod Laver Arena. It was one of the many joys that came Bopanna’s way.

Bopanna completed 500 wins in his professional career, after which he became the oldest World No.1 in doubles. Thereafter, he won the prestigious Padma Shri and followed it up with the Australian Open title.

Speechless Sania Mirza
Sania, who played her last Grand Slam match alongside Bopanna in the 2023 Australian Open mixed doubles, oozed pride while speaking about the veteran star.

“We said this at the beginning of last week, that what if he becomes the men’s No.1 in the world and wins the men’s doubles title?. He has done it and we were speechless. We could not be more proud, as an Indian, but more as a friend,” Sania told Sony Sports Network.

Former star Somdev Devvarman also lauded Bopanna for making tough sacrifices to scale greater heights in his career.

“Enough good things cannot be said about this man. This is the culmination of the sacrifices that he has put in,” Devvarman said.

Bopanna and Ebden had to grind it out in the first set of their match against the Italian duo. The set went into a tie-breaker, where the India-Australian pair dictated terms.

In the second set, Bopanna and Ebden earned a crucial break of serve at 5-5 to turn the match in their favour. Boleli and Vavassori had to earn a break to take the set into a tie-breaker, but that did not happen.

With the triumph, Bopanna also won his second Grand Slam title after beating the 2017 French Open mixed doubles along with Gabriela Dabrowski.