Rohan Bopanna’s journey came to an end just before the last hurdle at Australian Open, after he and Sania Mirza lost the mixed doubles final to Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos of Brazil at Rod Laver Arena. Bopanna had a great chance to add to his only major title, and he and his partner played well, standing toe-to-toe in the first set before capitulating in a must-win second set. 

During the game, the camera panned to Bopanna’s wife, Supriya, who was seated alongside her kid. The screenshot was later posted by a fan on Twitter, with a caption that read, “Is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen???” Bopanna was cheeky in his response, saying “I agree”.

“I feel like I have discovered the queen of the tennis players’ partners. Queen Supriya has emerged to take her place as ruler of the WAGs and HABs,” the same fan added. 

For the Indian tennis community, the match was significant as the country’s first tennis superstar Sania Mirza played her last grand slam match. Mirza broke into tears after the game, and said, “If I cry, these are happy tears. That’s just a disclaimer. I’m still going to play a couple of more tournaments but my journey of my professional career started in Melbourne.”

Mirza also acknowledged the immense contribution of Rohan, saying the latter was her first mixed-double partner at the age of 14 and it’s only fitting that she played her last grand slam with him on the same side.

“Rohan was my first-ever mixed doubles partner when I was 14 and we won the nationals, it was 22 year ago and I couldn’t think of a better person, he’s my best friend and one of my best partners to finish my career,” said Sania.

Sania will play a couple more tournaments, including the Dubai Tennis Championships 2023, before finally pulling the curtain on her gloried career. Bopanna, meanwhile, has no such plans at the moments, and he will continue to play doubles. Bopanna’s only grand slam of his career came in 2017 at French Open in mixed doubles, and since then, no Indian player has won a major in any format.