Clarity of thought made huge difference to the way I played tennis: Bopanna

Celebrating the 500th matchwin milestone of his career Rohan Bopanna says his consistent success had a lot to do with the clarity of thought and improved health that came with practising Iyengar Yoga Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden beat John Millman and Edward Winter in the second round of the Australian Open This was Bopannas 501st win of his careerBopanna is one of the most successful Indian tennis players Leander Paes and Sania Mirza have enjoyed more than 700 wins in their respective glorious careers while Mahesh Bhupathi ended his own successful career just three short of the 700win markAlso ReadIN PHOTOS Indian captains to hit doublecentury in TestsIts a truly special feeling that I got myself to 500 wins There have been a lot of sacrifices in this journey and a lot of people were with me during this time Bopanna who is still going strong at the age of 43 told official broadcast channel while talking to former Indian player Somdev DevvarmanAsked about the changes and adjustments he had to make during his journey Bopanna said he had altered his playing style of serve and volley and restricted himself to baseline play due to a knee issueIt was very difficult to not be able to serve and volley which I was always taught to do and was my style I did not have cartilages on my knee and it would painI had to manage it and find new ways of playing that worked while playing at the highest level Back in 2020 during the pandemic I started doing the Iyengar Yoga and that significantly made a positive impact on my health I could do 90minute sessions four times a weekAlso Read Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik ties knot with actress Sana JavedIyengar Yoga is a style of yoga taught and made famous by Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar who was a yoga teacher and author of many books on yogaI think mentally also I became much stronger I was clearer in the way I was thinking while playing tennis That made a great difference it resulted in a great last year for me as I enjoyed myself being on the courtAt 43 Bopanna became the oldest tennis player to win a ATP Masters series doubles title when he triumphed at Indians Masters with partner EbdenHe also became the oldest player to win a match at the yearend Finals Bopanna also spoke about the challenging conditions at the Australian Open and having to push his boundaries to get them winsIts really tricky the conditions in Melbourne When it is windy tennis is really different You cant go after your serve you have to play the percentage game That is really not my style and I had to work really hard with my legs But thankfully we got through he concludedBopanna and Ebden will next take on Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in their third round match on Sunday Matty and I have not played against this pair before It will be tough he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever