Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna is within one victory of the summit of tennis: the men’s doubles No 1 ranking.

With grey flecks through his beard and bright, kind eyes, he doesn’t immediately appear as a titan of the game. But then again, he turns 44 in March.

“I’m at – I call it – level 43,” he says.

On Monday, Bopanna reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time after victory alongside Australian doubles partner Matt Ebden over Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektić. The result guarantees him a career-high ranking of at least No 2 at the end of the tournament. A win on Wednesday against Argentinian pair Máximo González and Andrés Molteni will secure him the No 1 crown.

It comes less than a year after the Indian became the oldest man to qualify for a grand slam final in the Open era, when he and Ebden lost the US Open final. And it’s more than 20 years since Bopanna first became a professional.

“There are a few guys who are playing on the circuit born even after I became a pro, but I’m just happy where I am,” he says.

He attributes his mid-life purple patch to two things.

“What I can bring on the court is maybe not the foot speed, but I can bring that mental strength,” he says. “And playing with one partner.”

Bopanna is a mixed doubles grand slam champion, and Davis Cup veteran. Ebden too, a slam winner in men’s and mixed doubles.

But coming to the end of the 2022 season, both of their partners had chosen to go their own way. It left the two – who knew each other closely from years on the circuit – alone in the players’ lounge at the Paris Masters. There and then, it was decided.

“I think it was mutual, very mutual,” Bopanna says. “And to be really honest, I don’t think we really had many options to choose from.”

They were an instant hit. In addition to their run at the US Open, the pair reached the final at four ATP Masters tournaments, winning in Indian Wells, and appeared at the ATP Finals in Turin. Bopanna became the oldest Masters champion, and the oldest to win a match at the season-ending tournament.

Not bad for a man who has no cartilage in his knees, and almost gave the game away four years ago. But a strict program of daily ice baths and massages, and a refreshed outlook, is paying off.

“I’m not really just being a journeyman, I’m somebody competing for the titles, playing at the highest level, and I don’t think there is any reason to stop.”

In Melbourne Park for his 17th consecutive Australian Open, he has been joined by his wife, Supriya, four-year-old daughter Tridha and Supriya’s parents, sharing an apartment not far from the tournament precinct. It means his courtside box is full for his tilt at history, given he also travels with his coach of more than a decade, Scott Davidoff, as well as a full-time physio, Rebecca Van Orshaegen.

“There are days where I take a complete day off but I need to make sure I’m recovering, doing my mobilities, and that is where Rebecca has played a huge part in making sure I’m not being lazy,” Bopanna says.

The former serve-and-volleyer (his knees have limited his ability to rush the net) pursued singles until his late 20s, reaching a peak of 213th in the world in 2007. But he never made the main draw at a grand slam.

After winning his first title in doubles in 2008, he improved steadily and made the US Open final in 2010 alongside Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi. The pair was called the “Indo-Pak Express” and had a slogan “stop war, start tennis”. That 2010 achievement was his best result in men’s doubles, until he and Ebden reached the final at Flushing Meadows last year.

The intervening years brought highs – he describes his 2017 French Open mixed doubles title with Canadian Gaby Dabrowski as his career’s finest moment – and lows. He was close to giving the game away, as he battled pain in his knees and back that required painkillers. And, looking back now, he says he was too hard on himself for not living up to his own expectations.

In 2019, with a young daughter, his career was at a crossroads. But even at 39, he felt he had more to give.

“I had to figure something out,” he says. “My strength to persevere when I want to do something, I really believe that willpower and that mind strength has been a significant aspect in my journey.”

He turned to yoga, which has become a key part of his routine, giving him balance in the body and beyond: “It’s really helped calm my mind, and I don’t feel rushed on the tennis court.”

He won his 500th tour match last week, and is approaching $10m in prize money.

It’s a large sum for anyone, let alone someone who grew up on his parents’ coffee estate in rural India, 250km west of Bengaluru, in an environment he describes as “not at all” wealthy.

“Sometimes I think back, and I look back at the resources we had, and I cannot believe I’m here today,” he says.

As a teenager he was rejected for scholarships at Indian academies, but persevered and paid to attend a program in Pune, partly funded by loans taken out by his parents M.G. and Mallika.

“I was going into matches just losing first round, first round, first round,” he says. “Only at the age of 21, I had a big breakthrough, winning a national event in Chennai. That set me up, gave me a lot more confidence and I got into the Davis Cup team.”

Bopanna’s national appearances and long career have made him a household name in India, and he has been able to leverage his success to set up a tennis academy in Bengaluru. He also has a stake in several businesses, including a sports marketing company, and anticipates these endeavours will keep him busy when he decides to retire. But even though his 44th birthday is less than two months away, he says that won’t be any time soon.

“I’m just happy competing, I’m just happy with the way I am playing, enjoying myself,” he says, pausing to think. “Maybe not the practice days.”