Rohan Bopanna becomes oldest man to reach Grand Slam final in Open era, makes US Open title clash with Matthew Ebden

India’s Rohan Bopanna on Thursday became the oldest man in the Open era to reach the final of a Grand Slam as he reached the men’s doubles title clash in the 2023 US Open. Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the semi-final at the Louis Armstrong Stadium. It marks the second time that the 43-year-old Bopanna has reached the men’s doubles final in a Grand Slam, with the previous occasion being in the 2010 US Open in which he reached the title clash with Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.

The first set was a close affair with Bopanna and Ebden being 4-2 down at one point. The pair then managed to hold serve and then managed to take a break to get back on level term with the French pair. Mahut started struggling with the heat as well during the latter stages of the first set, a problem that has affected a number of players over the course of the Slam this year.

Bopanna and Ebden won the tie breaker 7-3 and had all the momentum going into the second set. They didn’t squander any of it and ensured that their opponents took just two games off them and cruised to the final. They will now face either two-time defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury or second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, whose semi-final match is scheduled to take place immediately after Bopanna and Ebden’s game at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The only Grand Slam title in Bopanna’s career has come in the mixed doubles event at the French Open in 2017, in which he had partnered up with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski. He had also reached the mixed doubles finals of the Australian Open earlier this year but finished runners-up with fellow Indian Sania Mirza, who went on to retire from the sport later in the year. He had also reached the mixed-doubles final of the Australian Open in 2023 with Timea Babos. He had entered the mixed doubles event of the 2023 US Open with Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi. Their run ended in the second round.

The last time Bopanna had reached a Grand Slam final was with Qureshi at the 2010 US Open. Dubbed the “Indo-Pak Express”, the pair had reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon as well in 2010. In the final of the US Open, Bopanna and Qureshi lost to the Bryan brothers – Bob and Mike Bryan – 7–6 (7–5), 7–6 (7–4).