Indian tennis great Rohan Bopanna announces his retirement from the game

Indian tennis great Rohan Bopanna one of only four Indians to win Grand Slam titles mdash Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza being the others mdash announced his retirement from the game on Saturday bringing an end to career spanning over two decades on the challenging ATP TourThe 45yearoldrsquos final appearance came at the Paris Masters where he partnered Kazakhstanrsquos Alexander Bublik losing in the opening round earlier this weekIn an emotional statement Bopanna said he was lsquoofficially hanging up racquetrsquo reflecting on a journey that took him from his hometown of Coorg Karnataka to the biggest arenas in world tennisldquoHow do you bid farewell to something that gave your life its meaning After 20 unforgettable years on tour however itrsquos timerdquo Bopanna wroteldquoEvery time I stepped onto a court it taught me perseverance resilience to rise to fight again when everything inside me said I couldnrsquot mdash and most of all reminded me why I started and who I amrdquo he addedBopanna became one of Indiarsquos most successful doubles players and earned the nickname lsquoBoforsrsquo in relation to the Indian armyrsquos famed artillery gun for his powerful serveHe won his first Grand Slam when he triumphed at the French Open mixed doubles event with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017 and won his first and only menrsquos doubles title with Australiarsquos Matthew Ebden at the Australian Open in 2024In 2023 Bopanna won the Indian Wells trophy with Ebden becoming the oldest ATP Masters champion at 43He also became the oldest World No 1 in doubles in 2024 aged 4302No of Grand Slam doubles titles won by Rohan Bopanna26Total ATP titles clinched by Rohan BopannaBopannarsquos career milestonesDenver Challenger 2003 Bopannarsquos first major title came alongside Pakistani partner AisamulHaq Qureshi The duo went on to achieve plenty of success together and were fondly dubbed the IndoPak ExpressCountrywide Classic 2009 Bopanna clinched his maiden ATP menrsquos doubles title while partnering USArsquos Eric ButoracUS Open 2010It was the first time the Indian reached the summit clash of a Grand Slam His partner in crime was Pakistanrsquos Qureshi and despite a spirited performance in the final they went down to the World No 1 duo of Mike and Bob BryanFrench Open 2017Bopanna clinched his maiden Grand Slam doubles title in the mixed doubles category after teaming up with Canadarsquos Gabriela Dobrowski They beat the GermanColombian pair of AnnaLena Gronefeld and Robert Farah in the finalIndian Wells 2023Bopanna became the oldest Masters champion at 43 while playing alongside Australiarsquos Matthew Ebden He did so by downing the World No 1 AngloDutch duo of Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof in the finalAustralian Open 2024Bopanna won his first menrsquos doubles title alongside Ebden beating the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori It made Bopanna the oldest doubles player to win a Grand Slam title at the age of 43 while also becoming the oldest doubles player to attain the World No 1 rankingThis 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