MUMBAI: India’s Rohan Bopanna announced his retirement from tennis on Saturday, bringing an end to a sporting career that spanned more than two decades.
Bopanna, now 45, celebrated becoming the oldest number one in men’s doubles history in 2024 by winning the Australian Open with his partner Matthew Ebden.
His previous Grand Slam win was in the 2017 French Open mixed doubles with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski.
Bopanna won 26 men’s doubles titles since turning professional in 2003, according to the ATP Tour.
“Tennis hasn’t been just a game for me. It has given me purpose when I was lost, strength when I was broken and belief when the world doubted me,” Bopanna said in a post on Instagram announcing that he was hanging up his racquet.
He said that, while he “may be stepping away from competition,” he planned to give back to the sport by helping “young dreamers from small towns.”
“My gratitude is endless and my love for this beautiful game will never fade.”
Bopanna, from the small town of Coorg in southern India’s Karnataka state, has said his long career had taken a toll on his body and left him with “no cartilage” in his knees.
However, he said regular yoga workouts had helped him achieve the mental and physical strength needed to keep competing at the top level.
“Every single morning I do a lot of yoga, a lot of meditation,” he said.
“My mind doesn’t feel rushed.”
