After becoming oldest Grand Slam doubles finalist, India’s Rohan Bopanna, 43, reveals both his knees are completely worn out; Bops-Ebden face Ram-Salisbury in final
Rohan Bopanna (right) and Matthew Ebden celebrate their win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Thursday. Pic/AFP
On Thursday night, India’s Rohan Bopanna, 43, became the oldest Grand Slam doubles finalist in the Open era when he and partner Matthew Ebden stormed into the men’s doubles final at the US Open with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win over the French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
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Bopanna beat the record previously held by Canada’s Daniel Nestor by two months.
Bopanna-Ebden face Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the title battle.
Dream-come-true-moment
It has been nothing short of a dream come true for Bopanna, who revealed that he has no cartilage in both knees. Cartilages act like cushions, allowing the bones to move easily within a joint and slide without friction. Absence of cartilage can be extremely painful.
“Both my knees have no cartilage. It’s worn out completely, it’s not a tear. In 2019, I used to be on two, three painkillers a day,” Bopanna told ATPTour.com.
Yoga to the rescue
“In 2020, I started Iyengar yoga, and that made a tremendous difference. I went from two, three painkillers a day to no painkillers today. The only time I take an
anti-inflammatory is after playing two matches a day. At that time, the body says, ‘Hello, please slow down, you still have no cartilage, ’ ” said Bopanna, who has won five ATP Masters 1000 titles with five different partners, but never a men’s doubles trophy at a major.
Bopanna was also grateful to his coach Scott Davidoff. “I’ve had Scott traveling with me for 12-13 years now and that has made a huge difference to understand how I’m playing,” added Bopanna.
The duo can become the World No. 1 doubles team if they win the US Open.
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