Surrey.Tennis 2017/2018

competition
the veteran pros
way longer than that, however, and was
a ripe old but nifty 50 when, playing
alongside Bob Bryan, she secured the US
Open mixed doubles in 2006.
The most 24-karat golden oldie of
all, however, is Ken Rosewall. Back in the
late 1960s and early 1970s, this Aussie
won Roland Garros aged 33, the US
Open at 35, and the Australian Open at
36 and 37, an age when many other
professional players are putting their feet
up, and resting their knackered bodies.
In 1974, aged 39, he managed to reach
the finals of both the Wimbledon and the
US Open singles. An amazing feat and
surely an inspiration for Federer.
“No other tennis athlete in the history
of the game since it became a major
sport around the First World War had
ever reached the finals at such an
advanced age,” wrote Peter Rowley in
Ken Rosewall: Twenty Years At the Top.
“By widening the horizons of human
endeavour Rosewall had encouraged
millions of middle-aged tennis players.”
But top-level success at such an
age is exceptional. The fact is, the vast
majority of Grand Slams are won by
20-somethings. Among male players,
it’s the mid-20s in fact that are the
most lucrative years. All of which makes
Federer’s current achievements nothing
short of super-human.
The legendary coach Brad Gilbert
(former adviser to the likes of Agassi,
Roddick and Murray) believes Federer’s
tennis is better now than ever before. “I’ve
been watching Roger since 1998 and, in
my humble opinion, he is playing better
tennis than at any point in his career,”
he says. “He’s been forced to get better
and he’s had to raise his backhand
and return of serve. He’s playing more
complete tennis. Roger’s breaking serve
five per cent more while still holding 90
per cent of the time. And he’s converting
Martina
Navratilova
was 50 when
she claimed
a Grand Slam
in the mixed
doubles at the
US Open in
2006
50 per cent of break points.”
Roger’s contemporaries are stretching
their careers too. Consider this interesting
statistic: back in 1991, the average age
of players in the ATP top 10 was 23.2
years. For the WTA top 10 it was 21.7
years. In 2001 it rose to 24.5 years for the
men and 22.0 years for the women. Fast
forward to the present day and, right
now, it’s over 27 years for the men, and
nearly 26 years for the women.
Simply put, this means the world’s top
players are older now than they’ve ever
been.
So what are the reasons for this
golden age of the golden oldies?
Match experience must be a major
factor. While younger players no doubt
cover the court more quickly and more
efficiently, older players are often more
22 surrey tennis magazine