"While everyone thinks it's special because you are 44, what stands out is you did it your way, on your own terms, no matter how long it took, and kept out all the random noise around you."
Rohan Bopanna was flooded with congratulatory messages after his history-making week at the Australian Open but this social media post, from his friend and former partner Mahesh Bhupathi, stood out. Beyond celebratory stuff was a subtle message about the unique challenges Bopanna faced on his long journey to World No. 1, largely because of the peculiarities of Indian tennis.
The facts we now know all too well: Bopanna is playing his best tennis at 43. He won a first men's doubles Grand Slam after 61 attempts with 19 different partners. He reached a career-high ranking of world No 1 - the oldest man to achieve both. Remarkable for a man who has no cartilage in his knees, was contemplating quitting five years ago, and is a month short of turning 44 years old.
Just these achievements resonate as a universal story of triumph over odds and limitations in sport. But it's even more extraordinary when seen through the lens of his journey in Indian tennis and the often-thorny landscape in which he has had to find his due.
To understand why Bopanna occupies a peculiar place in Indian tennis' hierarchy, one has to understand the background in which he played.
Indian tennis has a long, if sporadic, history, particularly in doubles. The other three Indians to reach world No 1 and win a Major are all bonafide legends - Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza. 'Lee-Hesh' formed a formidable all-Indian doubles pair, reaching the final of all 4 Grand Slams and winning 1 in 1999, Sania Mirza was the world No 1 in women's doubles for 91 weeks, forming a very successful pair with Martina Hingis.
Each one of them has a unique spot they occupy in Indian sports' collective consciousness... the first Grand Slam title for an Indian (Bhupathi), the only Olympic medal (Paes), the only Indian woman to win at the highest level.
Held against this benchmark, Bopanna, who has been around for a long time, was more of a journeyman. He was always playing at a high level, had regular success such as five Masters 1000 titles with different partners, formed a successful pairing with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and later with Bhupathi, and did well enough to keep himself amongst the top of the game and make the Grand Slam cut.
But while there was consistency and the odd trophy, there were no major, eye-catching result that would put him in the spotlight. Certainly not in the early part of his career when he shared space in the shadow of Paes and Bhupathi.
Before his landmark 2023 season, there were a bunch of anecdotes here and there, but there were no stories spun around his matches, no legendary feats that endure in a country's aspirational sporting annals. Sample these, for instance:
Reaching a men's doubles Grand Slam final in 2010 as part of the famed Indo-Pak express, but not reaching another till 13 years later (both the US Open)
Finishing fourth in the Rio Olympics in mixed doubles with Sania.
Winning his first Slam title in 2017, aged 37, with the mixed doubles at the French Open.
Winning his first big medal for the nation a year later, teaming up with Divij Sharan to win Asian Games gold.
Good achievements, most... just not great.
In between all this, there was controversy, too: a now forgotten but very unpleasant tussle with the All India Tennis Association on for an Arjuna Award. They did not nominate him for the government's main sporting recognition saying he hadn't won a medal for India and he had to publicly ask for the award. He finally got it in 2018, after the first Asiad medal. (He now has a Padma Shri too, the fourth highest civilian honour.)
The Arjuna Award nomination was just one instance of his constant struggles with the Indian tennis federation; there was a lot more chaos under the surface in the 2010s that Bopanna had to deal with.
There was the perpetual discord over who would partner whom in men's doubles at the Olympics. By then, Paes-Bhupathi didn't want to play with each other. Bhupathi and Bopanna were a fairly successful pair on the Tour and were seeded 7th at the London Games, going down in the second round. But at Rio 2016, Bopanna had to play with Paes and there was controversy over the latter not reaching Rio in time to train together and they exited in the first round.
At the start, it felt like the younger Bopanna was sometimes a pawn in these selection games at the national level, something Sania faced as well during the Olympics. On his part, he called out the authorities and made his points, and then moved on back to the gruelling tennis tour.
All that has since changed, with Bopanna enduring as the sole Indian player at the highest level, almost a bridge between the glory days of doubles to the now almost-empty coffers. For a while now, there has been barely any Indian representation at Majors and good news in Indian tennis. Yet, there was Bopanna, winning the occasional title with different partners, reaching the second week of Slams on and off. For a while there, he had only a few Indians with middling results to give him company, but he was ever-present, lifting India's only home ATP tournament with 3 different Indian partners since 2017 - Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (35 years), Divij Sharan (37 years) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (29 years)
Paes stopped playing in 2020 at the age of 46, Sania retired last year, playing her last Grand Slam with Bopanna, and reaching the mixed doubles final.
Now, poetically, Bopanna has found his peak.
In a milestone 2023, he and Matthew Ebden reached nine finals, won two titles as the Indian became the oldest man to win an ATP Masters title, reach a Grand Slam final and win a match at the season-ending ATP Final.
In 2024, with this one week in Australia, Bopanna has redefined his career and found his place in the pantheon of Indian tennis. And true to Bopanna's career ethic, this record-breaking performance comes on the back of hard work, belief, and discipline that has fuelled his consistency.
What did Bopanna, the yogi, ever trusting of his process, think about having to contend with not achieving as much as his predecessors in doubles or the time it took him to tick this big career goal?
We many not know the exact answer, but we do know that he has always been emotionally aware and has insisted on being in the present and letting go of the past. "It's long gone, that's the way I have always enjoyed my tennis. Those matches have grown me as a player, those experiences have shaped me and my career to where I am today," he said of all the close calls after his Australian Open win.
Applying the same to his years of searching for this one title can give an insight into his mindset; this men's doubles Major was a huge personal goal and the good and the bad that came before it were all shrugged off as part of the journey.
A journey hallmarked by process now has the most definitive proof of both his perseverance and his place in Indian tennis.
In an Olympic year, a good way to look at just how far he has come is through the lens of the Games. After playing with Bhupathi as preferred partner in London 2012, a controversy-marred stint with Paes in Rio 2016 and not making the cut for Tokyo 2021, Bopanna will almost certainly be there in Paris 2024 based on his ranking.
Now, he will be the leading man who gets to choose his partner. A partner that will come from what is now a curated men's doubles pool of players, who had together thanks in part to an effort from Bopanna. He, along with a company called KPIT, has started a doubles program for Indian players that provides a coach and a physio to travel with them. He even organised a doubles camp in Bangalore at the end of December, with the bunch of Indian players training with Bopanna and being mentored by him.
This is where Bopanna stands out the most; how in his own gritty way he has made his place in Indian tennis with his own limitations and opportunities, while trying to give back.
The likes of Paes, Sania, Bhupathi all have credentials that he may not be able to match up. They started and were part of the wave of doubles success for Indian tennis. Bopanna may not have the same prodigious success or advantage of that timing or even the same healthy knees and shoulders. But he has had the grit and the belief to keep playing, keep enjoying and eventually he found the time and opportunity to win his biggest title and change things to his advantage.
Leading by example, Bopanna has etched his name in Indian tennis history. And he has done it his way.