After 61 attempts and over 20 years on the pro tennis circuit, 43-year-old Indian, Rohan Bopanna, recently became the oldest world no. 1 doubles tennis player and the oldest man to win a Grand Slam doubles title. His remarkable victory at the 2024 Australian Open alongside Aussie, Matthew Ebden, is a testament to his never-say-die attitude.
But Bopanna’s journey has been anything but easy. In fact when he started playing tennis at the age of 11, most of the tennis coaching academies he enrolled in told him that he wasn’t good enough. Even so, with his parents support, Bopanna kept at it. His prowess on court began to earn him laurels and before long, he became a regular on the ATP tour.
At the end of 2019, after many years on the ATP circuit, he found out that the cartilage in both his knees had completely worn out. Worse still, he was on three pain-killers a day. Soon after, Covid struck. But instead of becoming a victim of circumstance, Bopanna chose to seek a solution to his knee problems. Fortunately, he found relief in Iyengar yoga and he used the lockdown period to strengthen and rehabilitate his body. By the time tennis resumed a few months later, Bopanna was miraculously pain-free and fuelled with belief that he could carry on playing.
That wasn’t the end of his troubles though. Bopanna went on an incredibly barren run a couple of years ago during which he told his wife he was considering retirement. “A couple years ago I sent her a video saying I’m going to call it a day because I was not winning matches at all. I went 5 months without winning a match and I thought that was going to be the end of my journey. But I think that perseverance inside me kept me going and really changed so many things,” he said.
Despite the innumerable setbacks, Bopanna found a way to overcome the challenges that came his way. His latest achievement, winning the Men’s Doubles Australian Open trophy this year, is yet another reminder to us of the amazing things that can happen when we refuse to give up – in sport or in life.
If Rohan Bopanna can go 5 months without winning a match and come back to win a Grand Slam title, it’s a reminder to children, and especially impatient parents, that the pursuit of excellence is riddled with many ups and downs. The lesson here is to keep persevering even when the chips are down rather than throwing your toys out of the pram at the slightest hint of difficulty or loss.
If you’d like your children to channel the Rohan Bopanna within them, it’s time to call Bravo Football on 9819377766 or 9819277766.
This month’s inspo comes straight from Premier League leaders, Liverpool FC’s legendary manager, Jurgen Klopp. In this video, Klopp shares some inspiring words for all children, especially girls, to keep doing what they love. Please do watch with the kids!