The Evolution of Tennis Careers: Longer and More Successful at an Advanced Age

At 38, he is the dean of the Top 100 and he is doing quite well. Recent finalist in Umag by deploying a good quality of tennis, Stan Wawrinka has even reintegrated the 50 best players. A great performance at an advanced age for a top athlete, but far from isolated. The Swiss is only, so to speak, the fifth highest ranked player currently over 35 behind obviously Novak Djokovic, Adrian Mannarino, Roberto Bautista Agut and Andy Murray. Among the first 100, they are even seven with Richard Gasquet and Albert Ramos Vinolas.

The proportion does not seem a priori huge. But it becomes notable when compared to the same ranking 20 years ago, then dominated by Andre Agassi and his (all the same) 33 brooms. It’s simple, at the time, no player aged 35 or over appeared either in the Top 100 or even in the Top 200. And if we broaden the spectrum, the trend towards longer careers is confirmed. While a dozen players aged 30 or over were among the top 100 in the summer of 2023, there are now around twenty. How to explain this phenomenon ?

For Jean-Bernard Fabre, doctor in physiology, the factors are multiple but he makes a first observation on the evolution of the age of tennis maturity linked to the progression of the general level of play. “Disregarding the exceptions of the Carlos Alcaraz type with incredible precocity, this maturity is reached later, for both women and men. This is due to the greater homogeneity of the circuits, the level is so dense and tight in the Top 100 that there are few easy matches. However, tennis maturity is the ability to maintain a certain quality of play for a long time and to do this, you have to know how to manage a match, its travels : the famous marginal gains linked to experience”, he explains.

A denser level and more staff

If the remark is all the same less valid in women’s tennis where young prodigies are more frequent – ​​Mirra Andreeva and Cori Gauff lately – it is clear that it is totally valid for these gentlemen. In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, it was not so rare to see “teenagers” like Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Michael Chang or even Pete Sampras winning the Grand Slams. When Carlos Alcaraz achieved this at the US Open 2022, it hadn’t happened for 17 years (Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros in 2005).

At the same time, more and more players manage to cross the symbolic bar of the Top 100 at 25 years or more, after having stored the necessary experience. Increasing the level of play therefore promotes the extension of careers, especially as professional tennis players and tenniswomen are better and better supported.

“Twenty years ago, with the exception of the very best, the players traveled alone, observes Jean-Bernard Fabre. At best, they were accompanied by a physiotherapist. Now, either there are cells dedicated to several players with each time a physiotherapist, a physical trainer, a dietitian, sometimes a shrink, or when they have a lot of resources, they travel with their physical trainer, their physio. They even have more and more ‘sports scientists’ who are there to make the link between all the professionals. The professionalization of the game plays a huge role.”

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A work of “goldsmithery”

In this movement to lengthen careers, certain emblematic players also play a leading role as precursors. Influenced by Andre Agassi who had finished his career at 36, Roger Federer quickly aimed to last. And to do this, he has become a master in the art of managing his schedule between phases of rest, training and tournaments. He thus succeeded in prolonging the pleasure longer than anyone in his generation – Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Nalbandian or even Lleyton Hewitt stopped long before him – with the notable exception of Feliciano Lopez, recently retired, or great servers like Ivo Karlovic and John Isner who were able to rely on this weapon to expend less energy physically.

Federer’s influence on the next generation and his Big 4 rivals was paramount at this level. “The players know each other better because the science around training has progressed, abounds our doctor in physiology. And by knowing each other better, they manage their matches better. Djoko, Roger or Rafa knew or know how to preserve themselves perfectly in the first Grand Slam tours, for example. Training strategies have progressed and this is linked to advances in science related to sport. This results in better management of peaks in form and a reduction in the risk of injury. This is craftsmanship: they have good planning both in terms of tournaments and work and recovery sequences. Before, to simplify, we trained a lot and then we went to tournaments. Now, we train and we also recover during tournaments.”

Marginal gains and advances in medicine

Djokovic even took this attention to detail even further to rival or even, who knows, surpass Federer in terms of longevity. It is perhaps him, the new precursor for the generations to come. “Between 2008 and 2010, when he was not yet the dominant player we know, I was fascinated by the fact that he took great care of his joints: we saw him doing stretching sessions , it looked like a gymnast. A joint with good flexibility and good amplitude is less prone to trauma, “explains Jean-Bernard Fabre.

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And to add: “At the dietary level, he understood an important thing: certain foods can cause micro-inflammations. However, when you play high-level sport, you constantly create inflammation, so if you feeds badly, we create a little bit of extra daily fatigue. We are on the famous marginal gains.

Add to that advances in medicine and surgical techniques – Andy Murray and his metal hip, Stan Wawrinka and the healing of a hole in the cartilage of his knee – as well as the evolution of equipment with lighter racquets that allow you to play faster with less force and you will understand that the life of players on the circuit is getting longer. On condition, however, of having the adequate financial means and the inner fire of passion for the game which is always incandescent.

2023-08-06 23:00:47
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