Old is Gold: Rohan Bopanna Claims Title at 43

In the final on Saturday, Bopanna, 43, and Ebden, 35, defeated top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of the United Kingdom 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

Matthew Ebden of Australia, left, and teammate Rohan Bopanna of India hold up the winner's trophy after defeating Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of the United Kingdom in the men's doubles final of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday, March 18, 2023.

Rohan Bopanna of India and his Australian partner Matt Ebden won the men's doubles title at the BNP Paribas Open, making him the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion.

In the final on Saturday, Bopanna, 43, and Ebden, 35, defeated top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of the United Kingdom 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

"Truly unique. "There's a reason it's called Tennis Paradise," said Bopanna, who was competing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 final.

"I've been coming here for so many years and seeing all these guys win." I'm overjoyed that Matt and I were able to pull this off and earn this title.

"There have been some tough, close matches." We played today against one of the best teams in the world. We're overjoyed to have won the trophy." Bopanna surpassed Daniel Nestor of Canada, who won the Cincinnati Masters in 2015, to become the oldest champion at the age of 42.

"I called Danny Nestor and apologised for breaking his record," he joked. "Winning the title stays with me, so I'm really happy about that." It was his fifth Masters 1000 doubles title, and his first since winning in Monte Carlo in 2017. This was the Indo-Australian duo's third final of the year. He now has 24 tour-level trophies in his collection.

The Indo-Australian duo defeated defending and two-time desert champions John Isner and Jack Sock in the semi-finals, after defeating Canadian singles stars Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals.

In their first match, Bopanna and Ebden defeated Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez.

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