Rohan Bopanna holds the world number one rank, in double tennis, at the age of 43. In fact, he is the oldest ever to do so in the history of the sport.
Bopanna became only the third Indian to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam title, taking the 2024 Australian Open crown with doubles partner Matthew Ebden following a commanding win over Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
With the win, he became a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017. Bopanna has also won 24 ATP doubles titles as well as a gold medallist at the Asian Games.
A recipient of the Arjuna Award, the second highest sporting honour of India, in 2019, Bopanna was announced among the awardees of the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of India, for the year 2024.
Rohan Bopanna has been more and more successful with most of his titles coming after he crossed the age of 35.
During an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Bopanna was asked about ‘age’ ever dawning on him and something that he has discussed with his doubles partner Matthew Ebden.
“I don’t think so. I don’t think we have once really discussed that. The conversation is: Are you fit? Ready to go to the match? I don’t think age has anything to do with it. And success can come at any age. I don’t think anyone ever tells you, at this age you can’t get it, there’s no more success going to happen. So that is where I truly believe the perseverance of constantly being out there, doing it week in, week out, trying and figuring out what was best for me to help the partnership," Rohan Bopanna said.
“I mean back in 2022, when I decided to play with Matthew Ebden, I told my coach he has a great opportunity to play with a Grand Slam champion. I said, and in 2022, I was not really travelling with a physio. And I said, I need to hire a physio. So, luckily, I found a great physio from Belgium, her name is Rebecca. And when she came on the circuit for the first time. I said, I want something very specific. I have no cartilages on my knees. It’s fully worn out and what I want to do is really focus on strengthening even the days I practice if I’m not feeling great, that’s totally fine. But the days I play matches is where I want to feel 100%. So she understood that and then she said, ‘Okay, we need to start a lot of mobility, a lot of stretching’. I have this love-hate relationship with ice baths. Today I actually love it. It’s become no choice," he added.
Asked about his fitness mantra, Bopanna said: “So I think in 2019 when I realised that my cartilages were fully worn out, I did these platelet-rich plasma, PRP injections in end of the year and my doctor told me here in Bangalore, he said these injections definitely will work as long as you start strengthening them. It’s not like you just put the injection and you go and you’re ready to fly. So somewhere the pandemic was a blessing in disguise because that’s when I discovered Iyengar yoga and I found a couple in Bangalore who were teaching Iyengar yoga, a place called practice room. So and I called them and I told them, this is my condition and they said, ‘This is going to be a challenge’. But they were ready to figure out how to strengthen my legs because my legs had gotten really weak and so my knees, my bone to bone were rubbing against each other, hence the pain. So once they started doing that and I was doing a 90-minute session four times a week. And initially I thought yoga, it’s too slow for me. It’s not cutting it. I mean but I’m glad that perseverance is such a big asset in my journey."
“It has been, I’ve always trying to find ways and I actually fell in love with it. I realized how much of a difference it was making. And apart from just strengthening my legs, then I started aligning my back, my shoulders. And I feel also my mind became a little calmer. Some way or the other indirectly just focusing on those muscles. I got mentally stronger and I started looking at also my matches very differently in terms of, if I would say, is that I used to sometimes say, oh, you know what? I tell my coach, ‘I wish my partner didn’t miss that volley’. I missed that forehand. So now I started telling myself, maybe my serve was not good enough. So hence he missed that volley. So a new perspective."
“And that yoga kind of helped me. I do 10-minute meditations before the day starts then I get my beautiful coffee to go with. And also what helps is, before matches, I take some power naps. That kind of really helps refresh the mind and it’s ready to go at that moment. Those, like a 10-15 minute power nap, not longer. And after the matches, the biggest thing is those ice baths. Those eye spots have been amazing for recovery. It helps the inflammation. I was doing ice baths quite a bit for a long period of time, but not every single day. So now I started doing it every single day when I’m travelling on the tour. Now I look forward to going to the ice bath because I know how good it feels the following day," he added.
When asked about his dietary plan and how maintains his fitness, Bopanna said: “In a lot of people, I see they take their proteins, they take their energy drinks. For me, what really works is coconut water and banana during matches. That is as simple as that. Plain water, coconut water and banana. That is all I need. It keeps me going no matter how long I’m there on the court. I like a simple breakfast. I like a lot of fruits. I like my eggs. That’s what I really need when I’m traveling. And then before matches, I eat some white rice with some salmon, white rice with some olive oil, some salt and some salmon or some chicken. It just keeps me well-fed and it feels good on the court."
“Sometimes if it’s an 11 o’clock match and I’ve eaten breakfast, I just eat some plain white rice with some olive oil and salt. That’s all sometimes it takes. And after the match, again, I get some chicken, I have some sushi and maybe dinner, I try and eat sometimes a steak, sometimes again salmon, depending on how I’m feeling. But yeah, simple. Keep it very simple, not too elaborate. And I feel I have a sweet tooth, but that’s when I say if I win a tournament, if I think I really earned it, then I go have it, it’s not like some of the countries in Europe you go, you get some fantastic chocolates, sometimes it is tempting. And yeah, I do indulge," he added.
Proded with the question about how he manages to stay away from Sambar, Idli, Rasam or Mysore Pak, Bopanna clarified: “No, no, it’s not completely off. Unfortunately, I don’t get it everywhere. That’s the problem. If my entire tour was in Bangalore, that’s all I would have been having. I mean, when I come back home, the first thing I eat is idli sambhar. I mean, that is what I first day when we travel and we come back, that is the first meal I always indulge in."
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