Bopanna rivals McEnroe by reaching Tokyo final at age 45
Already the oldest man to win a major title, the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion and the oldest first-time doubles world No. 1, Rohan Bopanna is now the second-oldest tour-level men’s doubles finalist in the Open Era. After the Indian’s run this week at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, only John McEnroe has reached a doubles final at a later age.
Teaming with Japan’s Takeru Yuzuki, Bopanna advanced to his 64th tour-level final with a dramatic victory on Monday. The pair saved three match points to upset top seeds Christian Harrison and Evan King 4-6, 6-3, 18-16, setting up a Tuesday final showdown against second seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Hugo Nys.
At the age of 45, Bopanna has reached his first tour-level title match since winning the Miami ATP Masters 1000 last March with Matthew Ebden.
McEnroe was 47 when he won the 2006 San Jose title with Jonas Bjorkman. The American returned from retirement for two doubles tournaments that season, winning San Jose in February and reaching the quarter-finals in Stockholm in October, also with Bjorkman. His San Jose title came after 12 years out of the game; in his final tournament before his initial retirement, McEnroe lost to Bjorkman in the Rotterdam doubles semi-finals in February of 1994.
Bopanna won the last two finals he played, making history with titles at the Australian Open and Miami last year at the age of 43. With his Australian Open title, he climbed to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time.
McEnroe first reached doubles world No. 1 in 1979 at age 20. The American won 77 tour-level doubles titles and earned 544 tour-level doubles wins in his career. Bopanna is seeking his 27th title and 538th win in the Tokyo final.
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