Why the ball is in the veterans’ court
The thirtysomethings’ stranglehold on the men’s game is likely to continue, writes Charlie Eccleshare
Those youngsters wishing the evergreen thirtysomethings would hang up their rackets should perhaps have a word with Andre Agassi.
During his career, Agassi laid the foundations for the longevity of today’s players. He was one of the first to employ a full-time strength and conditioning coach, and pioneered strategies that enabled him to win two grand slams after turning 30, and compete until he was 36. Doing either was almost unheard of at the time.
Fast forward a decade or so, and what was seen as revolutionary in Agassi’s day has become routine. As a result older players are dominating like never before. At the very top level, as well as there being no major winner under 30, the last nine grand slams have all been won by thirtysomethings – a first in the Open era.
Away from the elite, the 15 thirtysomething players who won tour-level events in 2017 was an Open-era men’s record for a calendar year, as was their combined tally of 31 titles. The average age of the world’s top 100 is 28.0, below last year’s 28.7 peak but above the 24 and 26 mark that it hovered around during the 1990s and 2000s.
To get a sense of the sophistication of modern-day players’ support teams, a look at Novak Djokovic’s camp is instructive. The Serb is typical in employing a small army of dedicated staff – among them a physio, a strength and conditioning coach, and a data analyst – as well as using contraptions such as a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
Other players employ sleep specialists, nutritionists and hypnotherapists, while Roger Federer said of his long-standing fitness coach, Pierre Paganini, last year: “A big part of the reason that I’m where I am today is definitely because of Pierre.”
On the equipment front, wearable technology to monitor performance and help manage workloads has become almost mandatory.
Mike Davison, a sports medicine expert and the managing director of Isokinetic, says: “Careers are prolonged by the avoidance of injury or re-injury. Monitoring is now allowing players to understand when they might be entering into potential risk of injury, whilst better supervision about when they return is reducing the re-injury rates.”
The explosion of easily available data, meanwhile, means “players can look at the patterns that will help them win and put less stress on their body”,
How champions are ageing
Injuries remain unavoidable – all of the “Big Four” have suffered over the past two years – but the very best, such as Federer and Rafael Nadal, have the luxury of managing their bodies by choosing the events they want to play, unencumbered by worries about ranking points and prize money.
This was another tactic used by Agassi to ensure he was at his freshest for the majors.
Federer has not dirtied his shoes with clay since 2016, while Nadal plays sparingly on hard and grass courts to protect his cranky knees.
As Nadal said at Wimbledon this year: “I’m not changing surfaces like before. I am not playing 23, 24 events per year. I am taking care of my body.”
Alterations made by the Association of Tennis Professionals have also facilitated players extending their careers. Just over a decade ago, the ATP introduced a series of reforms at masters events that included an end to best-of-five set finals and first-round byes for the top eight seeds. The ATP has also improved its medical and psychological support at tournaments.
Prize money at ATP and grand-slam level has increased monumentally over the past decade, with the total pot available to male players more than doubling from £104million in 2008 to around £220million this year. This has helped to extend players’ careers in two major ways.
First, it has meant the biggest names can afford to skip less prestigious events. Second, it has given the chasing pack a major incentive to keep playing into their thirties, with the chunky cheques on offer hard to turn down.
Perhaps we will only really know if this is a long-term trend or an anomaly once Federer, Nadal and Djokovic finally walk off into the sunset. Will they be replaced by other veterans, or will the fabled “Next Gen” take their place? Thus far, emerging talents such as Alexander Zverev have struggled at majors, which has contributed to the 30-and-over stranglehold.
Until that changes, the ATP Tour will remain very much a country for old men.