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Veteran India tennis star Rohan Bopanna on Wednesday backed his former doubles partner, Canadian Denis Shapovalov, to achieve Grand Slam success following his early exit from the Australian Open.
Once ranked among the top stars in men's singles, the left-handed Canadian has fallen away in the recent past and is currently ranked outside the Top-100 by the ATP. Shapovalov and Bopanna teamed up as a doubles pair in 2019, enjoying an impressive run during which they won 15 of the 24 outings they featured in across all surfaces. They also managed to reach two quarter-finals and a semi-final together and pulled off some great results as a doubles pair. Shapovalov suffered an injury last year and didn't feature in a single match after the Wimbledon, eventually dropping out of the Top-100 in the rankings for singles. The 24-year-old returned for the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, but was knocked in the opening round by Czech player Jakub Mensik in three straight sets (3-6, 5-7, 5-7). "I dont see why not, I peaked at 41, He has got 18 19 years I think he is coming out of an injury but he is slowly getting back," Bopanna said during an interaction with media persons over Zoom, backing the 24-year-old to achieve Grand Slam glory. Even at 43, Bopanna is still going strong and is one match away from making back-to-back final appearances at the Australian Open. On whether the thought of calling time on his career has crossed his mind, Bopanna said he has set no timeline yet for his career. "This an impossible question to answer today I am in the best place, I am the happiest person to achieve the ranking I am extremely happy competing and travelling so I don't want to set any timeline," the big-serving Coorgi said. However, before the Indian and his Australian Matthew Ebden can set sights on another Grand Slam final, they have to overcome a major hurdle in the form of China's Zhizhen Zhang and Czech Tomas Machac. The Chinese-Czech duo set many fancied pairs crashing out in the previous rounds. Ahead of the final, Bopanna said he was aware of the threat their opponents in the last-four pose, adding that they cannot be taken lightly. "They have been giant killers in the tournament they have knocked top teams we have to play the best tennis to beat these guys. We have to keep adapting and keep finding ways they are going to be a tricky team and I think we should be fully prepared and not take them lightly," Bopanna stated. Bopanna and Ebden will go up against Zhang and Machac in the semi-final round on Thursday. (ANI)
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