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World class even at 43: Rohan Bopanna

Photo: Mark Brake/Getty Images

After reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open with partner Matthew Ebden, the Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna became number one in the world in men's doubles for the first time - at the age of 43.

The duo defeated the Argentinians Máximo González and Andrés Molteni 6:4, 7:6 (7:5) on Wednesday and reached the semi-finals for the first time in Melbourne.

»Thanks to my team, they had to go through difficult moments with me.

Thanks to my partner Matthew.

This is really special and will always be an incredible experience," said Bopanna, who turns 44 in March and has been a professional for over 20 years: "I think it will inspire a lot of people.

Not just in tennis – people all over the world who are 40 and older.«

The game was temporarily interrupted due to heat blisters on Court 3 and continued in the Margaret Court Arena.

"We needed this change and the bubbles," said Bopanna, laughing: "That's the first time I've seen something like that here."

Possibly in the final against a German duo

In the fight for a place in the final, the duo, who have been playing together since the beginning of 2023 and were in the final at the US Open last fall, will face the Czech Tomáš Macháč and the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen.

A possible opponent in the final would then be the German tennis doubles Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer, who are surprisingly in the semi-finals.

The duo defeated Hugo Nys from Monaco and Jan Zielinski from Poland 6:4, 7:6 (7:3) on Wednesday and are still perfectly coordinated in Melbourne despite little shared doubles experience.

»It just feels great, it's a lot of fun.

We want to carry on like this," said Koepfer, his partner Hanfmann added: "In our game over the past week and a half, something has just clicked, we love it and are enjoying every second."

Hanfmann and Koepfer, who were eliminated in the singles in the first round, had already caused a sensation in the second round and surprisingly eliminated the Australian defending champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.

The Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori are now waiting in the fight for the final.

kjo/dpa/sid