A moment of fair-play was seen in the deciding key third set. The 43-year-old Bopanna and his Australian teammate lost in the final set against their opponents 2:4, 0:15. The Australian hit a precise cross forehand shot that flew close to the Indian tennis player. However, when the umpire was about to award the point to the Indian-Australian duo, Bopanna raised his hand and informed her that the ball had touched his elbow and awarded the point to the opponent.
She was clearly surprised by this gesture. She only said “fifty” into the microphone to announce the verdict to the entire stadium and stopped. Immediately, she called the Indian tennis player again to make sure if she really wanted to give up the point she had won. “Yes, of course, it touched me, so the point is theirs,” Bopanna assured her. The referee then announced the whole thing to the audience, who applauded the gesture.
Rohan Bopanna showed an extraordinary piece of sportsmanship today when he fought for his 1st men’s doubles title at the age of 43 in the final of the US Open. to award a point to opponents 👏 pic.twitter.com/P0Uz04uHNX
— Tomas Kohlmann (@tom__kohlmann) September 8, 2023
However, it did not bring Bopanna tennis luck. In the end, together with Matthew, they lost to the American-British duo 6:2, 3:6, 4:6. It was the second final for the Indian at the Grand Slam in doubles, he played it for the first time in 2010 also in New York, where he also left defeated. At the age of 43 years and 6 months, he nevertheless became the oldest Grand Slam finalist in the open era of tennis.
During the presentation ceremony, one of the two winners, namely the American Ram, praised him for his honesty. “I’m absolutely sure I’ve never seen anything like it, especially at such a crucial moment when everything was being decided. We would have no idea that the ball had touched him. Huge respect,” he praised his counterpart.
2023-09-09 19:10:43
#Open #beautiful #sporting #gesture #Open #final #idea #admitted #opponent #Sport.cz
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