Rohan Bopanna
A tennis player from Kodagu who won Grand Slam doubles titles and became the oldest man to reach world No. 1 in doubles, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2024.
Rohan Bopanna is a tennis player and one of India’s most successful doubles players. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2024 in the field of sports, from Karnataka [1].
From Kodagu
He was born on 4 March 1980 and comes from Kodagu [2]. He started playing tennis at 11, alongside hockey and football, and chose to go professional at 19 [2]. He began as a big-serving singles player before turning to doubles [2].
Titles
Bopanna first played for India in the Davis Cup in 2002 and has been part of the team for more than 20 years [2]. He won his first ATP title in Los Angeles in 2006 and the Paris Masters in 2011 [2]. In 2017 he won his first Grand Slam, the French Open mixed doubles, with Gabriela Dabrowski [2]. He won Asian Games gold in 2018 and mixed doubles gold at the 2022 Games, held in 2023 [2].
In January 2024, at 43, he won the Australian Open men’s doubles and became the oldest player ever to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles [2]. By then he had won 25 ATP Tour titles [2].
Giving back
He runs tennis academies in Bengaluru and Coimbatore and mentors young doubles players [2]. He received the Arjuna Award in 2018 [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2024: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2024: citation for Rohan Bopanna — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 15 October 2026.
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