If ever there was any doubt that age is just a number when it comes to tennis, it was proven again at Australian Open 2024 on Thursday as three “veterans” reached finals.
With a combined age of 119, Hsieh Su-wei, Rohan Bopanna and Simone Bolelli all booked spots in their respective doubles finals, showing that experience, class and nous can trump youth.
MORE: Australian Open 2024 men’s and women’s doubles draws
At 43, Rohan Bopanna has already clinched the world No.1 spot – when the rankings are updated after the event – but he is now one match away from a first slam title after he and Australia’s Matt Ebden edged out Czech Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-3 3-6 7-6[10-7].
Second seeds Bopanna and Ebden almost let it slip, holding a 5-2 lead in the decider and later having three match points only for Machac and Zhang to hit back and take it to a deciding tiebreak.
“I think Matt and me held strong more than once out there,” Bopanna said. “Even when I served for the match, we were expecting big returns, and unfortunately I got broken there.
“Next game we had three match points, and credit to Zhang, the way he played, there is one match point where he hit I think 200-plus on the serve and Matt got the return back. That one forehand went so fast past me. Before I even could move the racquet it was gone.
“But I think overall the experience of playing together I think helped us come through that super-tiebreak there, for sure.”
Bolelli and another Italian, Andrea Vavassori, beat the all-German combination of Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer 6-3 3-6 7-6[10-5].
For Bolelli, who quit playing singles in 2019 to focus on doubles, it is his second Melbourne final, having won in 2015, while it’s a first slam final for Vavassori.
“For me obviously is great emotion, great feeling,” Bolelli said. “Very happy to be in another final here. Happy to be with Andrea. We have a great feeling on the court. Today the match was really fighting. We fight until the end.
“It was a crazy match. Now we are in the final. We try to recover tomorrow, to rest, to practise good, and to put on court Saturday the last energy that we have and try to enjoy this moment also.”
Hsieh joined forces with her old partner, Elise Mertens, to beat Australia’s Storm Hunter and Czech Katerina Siniakova 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 and reach the final of the women’s event.
Hsieh won Roland-Garros and Wimbledon with different partners in 2023 but this year has reunited with Mertens, with whom she won the Wimbledon title in 2021. Despite the time apart, they have gelled immediately.
“It's a little bit different because we haven't played for a few years,” Hsieh said. “But I know what she was doing, so I was watching her at home on the TV. I have a big TV to make sure I follow all the girls.”
Hsieh and Mertens were 4-0 down in the first but stormed back to take it and then, after being pegged back in the second, recovered to win the decider.
They will play either Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok or Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who play on Friday.
One day on from securing the world No 1 ranking – the oldest man to achieve the feat - Bopanna revealed that he had received congratulations from an all-time Indian great, the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
“I think it's amazing that he follows tennis for a long, long time, and he was there at Wimbledon watching our match, as well,” Bopanna said.
“He's a dear friend. I met him a bunch of times. Had dinner with him a couple of times.
Ebden, a whippersnapper at the age of 36, won the Wimbledon title with Max Purcell in 2022 but is chasing his first Australian Open title, having lost out to Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis the same year.
“I've been lucky to have won this tournament in mixed doubles some years back, I know what that feels like,” he said. “I'll count that as a blessing, for sure. Of course, the plan is to win it here, this one. Hopefully many more.”