Rohan Bopanna hangs up his racquet

Bengaluru: For the near and dear ones, he is ‘Bops’ or ‘Bopsi’. For the fans who adored his game, he will always remain ‘Bofors’.

Loved for his genial personality and known for his relentless pursuit of excellence, one of the most popular Indian tennis players - Rohan Bopanna - hung his racquet on Saturday after wielding it for more than two decades on the ATP Tour.

In his farewell message titled ‘A Goodbye.. But Not The End’ on his social media handles, the 45-year-old summarised his long tennis journey through a four-page note. And rightly so, the former world No. 1, two-time doubles Grand Slam champion, three-time Olympian began by saying: “How do you bid farewell to something that gave your life its meaning?”. 

The Kodava was 11 years old when he started playing tennis in his hometown Coorg - the coffee land in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. His first big break would come 11 years later when Bopanna received his maiden call-up to represent India at the Davis Cup before he steadily began to find his foot on the professional tour. From ATP Challenger series to the Slams, the lanky 6 feet 4 inches athlete initially dabbled his luck both in singles and doubles before completely switching to the latter in the late 2000s.  

At a time when doubles was hogging all the limelight because of his seniors Mahesh Bhupathi and Leader Paes, Bopanna, with his torpedo-serve that packed a plenty of punch, made head turns and stole spotlight for his power, skillful net play, one-handed backhand and controlled aggression. 

“Starting my journey from a small town of Coorg in India, chopping blocks of wood to strengthen my serve, jogging through coffee estates to build stamina and chasing dreams on cracked courts to standing under the lights of the biggest arenas in the world - it feels surreal,” Bopanna wrote in the note. 

If his first ATP Challenger Series win came in 2003 while partnering Pakistan’s Aisam-ul-Qureshi at the Denver Challenger, the right-handed Bopanna played his final match with partner Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the Paris Masters this week where he lost in the opening round. 

In his 22-year-old career, Bopanna won the French Open mixed doubles title with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski in 2017 before capturing the Australian Open men’s doubles trophy with Aussie Matthew Ebden in 2024. A few months before his second Grand Slam victory, the Indo-Aussie pair had won the 2023 Indian Wells.

At an age when most people struggle to maintain physical fitness, the wins during the late 2023 and early 2024 seasons saw the Karnataka man become the oldest ATP Masters champion and the oldest world No. 1 in doubles at 43 years old. It was a feat that gave him another life on the court following his fair share of injuries over the years on the demanding tennis tour. 

However, Bopanna had a forgettable 2025 after parting ways with Ebden at the end of 2024. Without a constant partner, the Indian only made it to one final this year at the ATP 500 Japan Open with local man Takeru Yuzuki with the duo finishing as runners-up. 

Battling advancing years and having already ended his India career after the Paris Olympics and Davis Cup in 2023, Bopanna’s final goodbye as a pro comes as no surprise. And his adios wasn’t without thanking each an every person who helped him live his dream.