BENGALURU: After watching
Rohan Bopanna
climb a new peak by winning the Australian Open men's doubles title with
Australia
's
Matthew Ebden
in Melbourne on Saturday, the star player's father,
MG Bopanna
, said his son's decision to take up yoga a few years back has worked wonders.
"When
Rohan
started doing the Iyengar yoga two years back in Bengaluru, it did him a world of good.
That changed him as his energy and fitness levels went up.
That's why he could last (the gruelling duels) even now, at the age of 43. Thanks to his yoga master, who took it as a challenge and helped him do well,"
Bopanna Sr
told TOI. "To go with that, of course, is the fact that Rohan is disciplined and dedicated."
Bopanna Sr has had a busy evening, with his mobile phone flooded with congratulatory calls and messages from well-wishers. It has also been celebration time over the last few days back home in Kodagu as well as Bengaluru, with Rohan becoming the world's oldest men's doubles player to be ranked number one and government bestowing him with the
Padma Shri
.
"I never expected such a result from Rohan. Also, I didn't expect him to win the Padma Shri. We are excited about the whole thing. To top it all, today he has become the oldest player to win a Grand Slam. That's the ultimate joy," an elated Bopanna Sr, who once prepared a tennis court in his hometown in Kodagu to help Rohan, said.
Now that Rohan - son of Mallika, a homemaker and Bopanna, a coffee planter - has defied the odds, the proud father is confident he will work hard to keep the tricolour flying high in the coming years.
English (US) ·