Rohan Bopanna becomes oldest player to enter top 5 in ATP rankings

Bopanna-Ebden qualifies for ATP Tour finals in Turin.

Rohan Bopanna, one of India’s most prolific tennis players, might be in the twilight of his career, but his consistent performances shows he still has quite a lot of gas left in the tank. Right now, he is playing some of his best tennis in the company of Australian Matthew Ebden. The Indian, who made it to the final of the recently concluded Shanghai Masters 1000 event, finds himself in the top 5 of the ATP rankings.

In doing so, he achieved the feat of being the oldest to enter top 5 in doubles category. Rohan Bopanna is placed in the 5th spot in the ATP rankings with Ebden a spot lower at 6th. The 43-year-old also broke his own record of being the oldest man to make a Masters final, apart from making it to the top 5 on the ATP doubles rankings for the second time in his career. He had achieved the feat a decade ago, in October 2013.

The Indo-Australian duo have made it to four finals this year - Qatar Open in February, Indian Wells in March, the US Open in September, and the Shanghai Masters in October. Of the four finals, the pair won the Qatar Open and the Indian Wells Masters. 

Bopanna and Ebden will cap off their first year as a pair by competing at the Nitto ATP Finals. Bopanna has made it to three previous appearances at the ATP Finals, the last time being in 2015. They made the cut for the year-ending Turin event by reaching the final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters. 

The top two doubles pairs of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, are already in the ATP Tour finals. The Indo-Aussie pairing is third on the list in the race to the Nitto ATP Finals.