4 Indians to win Miami Open in doubles ft. Rohan Bopanna
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna has been aging like a fine wine, a cliche you often hear whenever he adds a feather to his cap. The World No. 2, at the time of writing this article, won the men's doubles event at the Miami Open ATP Masters 1000 along with Australian partner Matthew Ebden.
The experienced pair came from a set-down to pull off a spectacular win against Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and Austin Krajicek (United States) 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 in the final played at the Hard Rock Stadium.
The 44-year-old Rohan bagged his 14th ATP Masters 1000 title and 63rd ATP Tour level final. He rescripted his own record for the oldest player to lift the ATP Masters 1000, though this was his first title at the Miami Open, making him the fourth Indian player to win the prestigious event.
Let's have a look at the other Indians who have succeeded in the tournament in the past.
#1 Leander Paes
India's most decorated Tennis player Leander Paes has won not one but three titles at the Miami Open. The Olympic medallist won three consecutive Miami Masters from 2010 to 2012.
Paes won all the titles with different partners in Lukas Dloughy (Czech Republic) in 2010, Mahesh Bhupathi (India) in 2011, and Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) in 2012. Interestingly, the 2012 Miami Masters was the 50th doubles title for the Indian veteran, making him the 24th player to achieve the feat at that stage.
#2 Mahesh Bhupathi
The third-seeded pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi won the Miami title in April 2011 after upstaging the higher-seeded pair of Max Mirnyi (Belarus) and Daniel Nestor (Canada) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-5 in the final at Crandon Park.
This title doubled the joy of Indians back at home, who were already chuffed with the Indian men's cricket team's 2011 World Cup triumph on home soil. The win also helped the 'Indian Express' pair to consolidate their position as World No.1 in the ATP World Tour Doubles Team Rankings. This was the lone Miami trophy for Mahesh in his glittering career which spanned nearly two decades.
#3 Sania Mirza
The most successful female Indian tennis player lifted her only Miami Open title in April 2015 when she was in the nascent stage of her partnership with Switzerland's Martina Hingis. The top-seeded duo rallied past the Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-1 in straight sets.
The win saw a massive turnaround from the Indian-Swiss pair after they were reeling at 2-5 in the first set, only to win five games in a row thanks to their grit and composure.
It was Sania's 25th WTA title and she leapt to the World No. 1 spot in the same month. Sania's partnership with Martina is deemed the most successful during her illustrious career in the racquet sport.
#4 Rohan Bopanna
Following his success at the Australian Open 2024, Rohan Bopanna went on strength to strength with Matthew Ebden to win the Miami Masters 1000 event. Even after going down in the first set, the Indo-Aussie pair bounced back stronger to win the final, involving into a decider.
En route to his success, Bopanna not only became the oldest player to win an ATP Masters 1000 but also regained his World No. 1 status.