By winning the doubles championship with Matthew Ebden, Rohan Bopanna became the oldest player to win in Indian Wells

When he and his Australian partner Matt Ebden won the men's doubles championship at the BNP Paribas Open, Indian Rohan Bopanna made history by becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 winner.

In the championship match on Saturday, Bopanna, 43, and Ebden, 35, upset top-seeded Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neil Skupski of Great Britain 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.

"Very unique. Tennis Paradise is so named for a reason "Bopanna, who was competing in his 10th ATP Masters 1000 championship game, commented.

"I've been coming here throughout the years and seeing all these men win for so long. I'm overjoyed that Matt and I were able to do this and win this championship.

"There have been some challenging and tight games. We played one of the top teams in the world today. I'm really glad we won the trophy."

Bopanna, who is 42 years old, overcame Daniel Nestor of Canada, who had won the Cincinnati Masters in 2015, to become the oldest winner.

"I called Danny Nestor and apologized, but I was going to break his record," "He laughed. "Winning the championship, it sticks with me, so incredibly thrilled with that."

The 43-year-first old's victory since he triumphed in Monte Carlo in 2017 and his sixth Masters 1000 doubles championship. This was the Indo-Australian team's third final of the year. He currently has 24 tour-level awards in his trophy case.

The Indo-Australian duo defeated Canadian singles talents Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals before shocking the two-time reigning champions John Isner and Jack Sock in the semifinals.

Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez had been beaten by Bopanna and Ebden in their last encounter.

Bopanna, a former No. 3 in the world, moved up four spots to No. 11 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings.