Older Players in the Top Twenty
Tennis has and always will be one of the most physically draining sports in the world. If the gruelling string of one tournament after another, with matches stretching out in a long thread, isn’t enough, the constant travelling does enough to wear any player
out. A singles tennis player, in particular, generally starts his career in his mid teenage years. If any professional singles player has a twelve year timeline from the year he turns pro to the year he retires, then by the age of 24 his career is halfway
through. It is extremely rare to see any player still on the court past the age of 35, let alone beyond that. However, a growing trend seems to be surfacing in the world of tennis: more and more players continue to play far past the standard age of retirement,
and perform remarkably well in the bargain.
Roger Federer, World Number 3 at the age of 29: This professional tennis player from Switzerland has been touted as the GOAT of tennis – Greatest of All Time. Even after Nadal’s career Grand Slam, most fans
stay loyal to Federer, holding out hope for him to score another one or two majors. Even if these elude him, he is still a great challenge to every player who competes with him. He has crossed many milestones in his career, not least his record breaking 16
Grand Slam titles and his former World Number 1 position. Even though his career seems to be in his twilight years, he is still World Number 3, and the oldest player in the ATP’S Top 10.
Mikhail Youzhny, World Number 9 at the age of 28: Russian Mikhail Youzhny has been in and out of the ATP’s Top 10 ranking list for many years now, but he has finally landed the World Number 9 slot, after a performance
which equals his career best at the 2010 US Open tournament. Youzhny has only made it to the semi finals of two Grand Slam finals. Both these matches were staged at Flushing Meadows during the US Open, once in 2006 (at the age of 24), and once this year. Although
his match this time round was lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal, Youzhny proved that he still possesses the skills required to make it big in the tennis world.
Jurgen Melzer, World Number 13 at the age of 29:
Melzer is one of Austria’s most prominent professional tennis players. At the age of 29, he reached his career high ranking of World Number 13. This ranking was achieved in September, following his appearance at the semi finals of the French Open and
the fourth round of Wimbledon and the US Open. Before this year, Melzer had never proceeded past the third round of any Majors event. However, with his performances at these three Grand Slam tournaments and his men’s doubles title at Wimbledon, Melzer has
redeemed his position as a player who continues to excel at an age where many others retire.
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