India’s former world No. 1 doubles player Rohan Bopanna has been left out of the AITA’s Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) roster for not meeting the mandatory one-year retirement criterion prescribed under the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026. The 46-year-old announced his retirement from professional tennis on November 1, 2025, falling short of the stipulated one-year period by just a few weeks when the AITA published its SOM roster on October 16, 2026.
The rules require a sportsperson to have retired from active sport for at least one year before the date of application for inclusion in the SOM roster.
He also became the oldest player to attain the world No. Bopanna won the mixed doubles title at the 2017 French Open and the men’s doubles crown at the 2024 Australian Open. 1 ranking in men’s doubles, achieving the feat at the age of 43.
India’s former world No. 1 doubles player Rohan Bopanna has been left out of the AITA’s Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit roster for not meeting the mandatory one-year retirement criterion prescribed under the National Sports Governance Rules, 2026.
Before that, he had declared that the 2023 Davis Cup tie against Morocco in Lucknow would be his last appearance for the country and had retired his India jersey. The possible confusion may have stemmed from the fact that AITA considered his retirement from international duty in 2024 as meeting the requirement. However, since he continued competing on the ATP Tour, he remained an active player until November 2025. Tier 3 includes Anand Amritraj, a former India Davis Cup stalwart who helped the country reach the competition’s finals in 1974 and 1987, and Zeeshan Ali, a former Davis Cup player who later served Indian tennis as a coach. Veteran player and former Davis Cup captain Jaidip Mukerjea and former national champion Gaurav Natekar are in Tier 4. Rushmi Chakravarthi, a former India international, features in Tier 5, while Ankita Bhambri is listed in Tier 6. Current Davis Cup coach Ashutosh Singh, Vivek Shokeen and Sai Jayalakshmy are placed in Tier 7.
