CNN
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Rohan Bopanna proved age was just a number after becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion at 43 years old, with victory in the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles.

Alongside playing partner Matthew Ebden, the unseeded pair dispatched top-ranked duo Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, to claim the men’s doubles title at Indian Wells, winning 6-3 2-6 10-8.

The triumph was the pair’s second title together following last month’s success in Doha at the Qatar open. Bopanna described the win as “Truly special.”

“It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason. I’ve been coming here over the years and seeing all these guys win and I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here,” he said, per Reuters.

In winning his 24th tour-level trophy, the former doubles world number three broke the record for oldest masters champion held by former partner Daniel Nestor.

According to Reuters, Bopanna credited the feat to his coffee consumption. “It’s the Indian coffee that I keep having when traveling,” he explained. “That’s the secret. The biggest thing is to make sure you recover well after matches and that’s really helped me.”

The Indian, whose family own a coffee plantation in the Indian state of Karnataka, added: “Some days I tell Matt I maybe just practiced 20 minutes, but I’d rather rest the body and be ready for our matches.”

Ebden and Bopanna now hold an 11-4 record together this season and have moved up to 18th and 11th in the ATP doubles rankings, respectively.

CNN
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Elena Rybakina defeated world No. 1 Iga Świątek in straight sets on Friday to reach the Indian Wells final and continue her electric run of form this season.

Świątek had no answer to the powerful groundstrokes unleashed by the Wimbledon champion as the Pole was overwhelmed 6-2 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes.

With this victory, Rybakina became the first player to win multiple matches against a reigning world No.1 since 2019, after she defeated the Świątek in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

“With Iga, she’s tough, really tough opponent, but when I play this good and everything goes in – because today some moments I played, I would say, on my highest level – [these are] moments where you can feel, okay, I can beat anyone if I always play like this,” said Rybakina after her win.

“But it’s the goal, you never feel amazing and perfect every match. I think today it was just really good from me.”

The world No. 10 was dominant from the start, breaking Świątek at the first opportunity and winning the first set in just 36 minutes.

Rybakina then raced to a 5-0 lead in the second before Świątek held and broke back to stem the tide somewhat, but the Kazakh held on for victory, becoming the first player from her country to reach a singles final in tournament history. Rybakina was born in Russia but has represented Kazakhstan since 2018

“If you dropped onto the planet tonight and heard #1 is playing, then it’s Rybakina,” former professional tennis player Pam Shriver tweeted.

Świątek revealed afterwards that she was managing a rib injury and “not feeling 100% physically,” although she still plans to play at the Miami Open next week.

“Honestly, I haven’t played with a lot of injuries,” she added. “It’s a new situation for me, for sure. Last time I played with an injury, like the only tournament I can remember is like Roland Garros 2019. So I was pretty young.

“Now it’s a totally different level. So I feel like going on that matches you have to be 100% fit.”

Rybakina will now face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka for the Indian Wells title in a repeat of this year’s Australian Open final.

CNN
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The world’s top men’s tennis player Novak Djokovic will miss the Miami Open next week, after being denied entry to the United States because he is unvaccinated against Covid-19, tournament director James Blake announced on Friday.

The United States still requires international visitors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and the Serbian, who has previously confirmed that he remains unvaccinated, had applied for special permission to enter the country ahead of the tournament.

“We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn’t able to happen,” Blake said in an interview with the Tennis Channel.

“Obviously, we’re one of the premier tournaments in the world, we’d like to have the best players that can play. We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that’s out of our hands.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said earlier this month he would “run a boat from the Bahamas” for Djokovic to compete in the Miami Open tennis tournament.

DeSantis called on US President Joe Biden to drop the vaccine requirement for international travelers so the 22-time grand slam champion would be able to compete.

The 35-year-old Djokovic has missed several other tournaments because of his vaccination status. Earlier this month, Djokovic withdrew from the ongoing BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in California due to being denied the exemption. Last year, he missed Indian Wells, the Miami Open and all the tournaments included in the US Open swing.

The Miami Open’s main draw play starts March 22 and and the tournament ends April 2.