LONDON: Wimbledon's social media handle sparked the Kannada vibe as it anointed Rohan Bopanna - the oldest player in The Championships - 'India's superstar' in Kannada.
The 43-year-old Bengalurean, 6'4'', who has used yoga to rejuvenate a career that appeared to have stalled when his knees started troubling him five years ago, in March became the oldest man to win a Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells.
Eloise Tyson, spokesperson for the All England Club said: "as part of our ambition to further grow the Wimbledon audience internationally, our digital team is producing a limited amount of localized content of which this tweet is one example."
The tweet was a nuanced touch by Wimbledon, which clearly zoned in on geography, given India's great diversity. Bopanna, playing his 13th Wimbledon, made the semifinals here twice in 2013 and 2015.
Fittingly, it was that run 10 years ago, his best at the All England Club, that resulted in his career-best ranking of No. 3 in the world in July 2013. On the court, Bopanna, 43, and Aussie Matthew Ebden fought off match point in a rain-interrupted third round match on Court No. 12 to beat alternates David Pel of the Netherlands and American Reese Stalder. The Indo-Aussie pairing came through 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (10-5) in two hours and 19 minutes.
Dhamne ousted
Meanwhile, India's Manas Dhamne, a qualifier in the junior boys' event, went down 1-6, 4-6 to Briton's Henry Searle in a rain-interrupted second-round match.
