Rohan Bopanna jumps to No. 3 in world rankings, matches career-high after strong run at the ATP Finals
Rohan Bopanna reached a career-high men's doubles ATP ranking of No. 3 after a strong run at the 2013 Wimbledon. After a decade, he has matched that ranking once again following another semi-final run at a prestigious event, this time, the ATP Finals.
In an incredible stat, the Indian, at 43 years and eight months, is not only the oldest player in the top 10 but the ATP rankings ladder altogether. He now sits at No. 3 with 6,390 points, behind only Ivan Dodig with 6,620 and Austin Krajicek with 7,130 points.
The late career surge has seen Bopanna achieve one feat after another. Last week, he became the oldest player ever to win a match at the ATP Finals. Bopanna, along with his partner Matthew Ebden, made it to the semifinals of the tournament that has the year's top eight pairs competing for the big trophy.
The performance was instrumental in helping Boppana make the jump back to No. 3 in the world rankings. In fact, Bopanna came agonizingly close to breaking new ground. Had he and Matthew Ebden won two more matches and lifted the ATP Finals crown, they would have risen to the position of joint No. 1s in the men's doubles rankings.
For Rohan Bopanna, that would have been an incredibly special achievement given that his men's doubles portfolio, impressive as it is, lacks that one anchoring achievement.
The Indian has never won a Grand Slam in the men's doubles event despite making the finals on two different occasions. His only Major crown came at the 2017 French Open when he and his partner Gabriela Dabrowski won the mixed doubles.
Bopanna has also reached the summit clash at the ATP Finals twice but came up short on both occasions. The Indian rising to a career-high ranking ahead of an important 2024 season, which will feature the 2024 Paris Olympics has, however, given hope to many Indian tennis fans of a last hurrah.
A quick recap of Rohan Bopanna's incredible 2023 season
Rohan Bopanna's incredible 2023 season began with a bang as he partnered fellow Indian tennis legend Sania Mirza — who was playing in her final Grand Slam tournament — to the finals of the Australian Open.
The Indian turned in a series of consistent performances with his partner Matthew Edben over the season, but their big break came at Indian Wells where they lifted their biggest title as a pair.
The duo, seeded sixth, made their first Grand Slam final at the US Open to cement their status as the ones to look out for at the back end of the season. Bopanna and Edben made two more big finals at the Shanghai and Paris Masters before making the trip to Turin for the ATP Finals, where they reached the semifinals, losing to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.