'Communication is the mantra'
DUBAI:
Rohan Bopanna
talks like a marriage counsellor these days. The tenor of the tone is perfection.
"Communicate, do not assume," the Indian star said, stressing on the verbs. Bopanna, who will turn 44 this week at the
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
, has been the vibe of the first two months of the year, setting all kinds of records as the oldest player to triumph.
He claimed the
world No. 1 ranking
and won his first
Grand Slam
men's doubles title at Melbourne Park in January, playing alongside Aussie
Matthew Ebden
. It was a story that scored beyond the chalked lines.
Bopanna and Ebden had their backs to the wall in their first-round match against Aussies Marc Polmans and James Duckworth in the
Australian Open
but used their experience to pull through.
"A
doubles partnership
is like a marriage,"
Bopanna
told TOI, acknowledging that big things happen in the couple of hours two people spend on the same side of the net on a match court.
They go for the kill, watch each other's backs, they intercept and inspire. One for the other, every time. "No good relationship lasts long without communication," Bopanna said. "You feel lonely, you feel like you are doing it by yourself, but when you have communication, you just feel better. You wake up better, you trust the process more. The moment you assume, the relationship is going to go downhill."
In the semifinal where they played Tomas Machac and Zhizhen Zhang, Bopanna and Ebden appeared to have let go of a golden opportunity in the decider. At the changeover, the Indo-Aussie pairing was animated in their exchanges, which perhaps set the tone for the deciding tie-break. "It's communicating what happened and how we can improve on the next point," Bopanna said. "Also, it is about how to communicate. That comes with maturity, what words and expressions to use and when to say what."
Things started coming together for Bopanna and Ebden at this time last year, when after early losses in their first two tournaments down under, they made the final in Rotterdam and won the Doha title.
"The reason that we are No. 1 is because we have had a consistent year," Bopanna said, underlining that Indo-Aussie pairing had gone from semis to final and then title in their last three Grand Slams. "The difference is we had done well consistently in major events. That was the focus."
"We started trusting each other as a team. We don't take it for granted that we are going to win the tournament," Bopanna said. "There are so many tournaments and matches where we could've lost the first round, down match point. Trust in the partnership has helped us have this kind of a year."
"We trust our games and our gameplan," he said. "Sometimes you are doubting yourself and also the partnership. No matter what the scenario, the scoreline, we understand our strengths and play to them. We are confident when we get on the court, we are there to win the big titles, big matches."
English (US) ·