Four of them made it through to the first round of Indian Wells: Tatjana Maria, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet. The other three players needed 3 sets to win while Andy Murray also took 3 hours and 11 minutes to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The victories show that they, the players over 35 years old, are still resilient both physically and mentally. And most importantly, they don’t give up. Why are they so persistent?
They are still hungry for titles
Andy Murray is still there despite announcing his retirement from tennis after his defeat at the 2019 Australian Open. The British tennis player continues to squeeze on the courts, not at the top level that helped Murray win 3 Grand Slams and HVC. Olympics, but with passion and desire to conquer milestones. In August 2019, Murray aims to have one more title and reach 700 victories. Just two months later, Murray hit his first goal in Antwerp and realized his second in Miami last year.
In February, Andy Murray continued to reach the final of the Doha tournament. The 55th-ranked player in the world announced earlier this week of his “relentless ambition in seeking titles, getting as far as possible in major tournaments and hitting 800 wins”. That task was not easy. Murray has only 724 wins with “only” 22 victories in 2022 and 15 in 2021. It should be recalled that in the period when he was number one in the world, Murray won 78 victories in 2016.
Stan Wawrinka, the former world No. 3, has just returned to the Top 100 at the age of 37 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Marseille tournament. The Swiss tennis player is always ambitious to earn another title, six years after the last one at Geneva in 2017. “My dream is to win another ATP championship before I retire”, Wawrinka shared on L’Equipe last May.
They want to be in the Olympics
Gael Monfils (36 years old) returned to Indian Wells after a seven-month break with a heel injury. The French tennis player once had the ambition to compete at the top until the age of 40 but now has to think again. “I used to be immune to injury, once ranked 15th in the world. But boom, my wife (former tennis player Elina Svitolina) is pregnant. Then I got injured again. And my son will have to grow up with questions about his father’s long absence,” Monfils shared about his intention to retire after losing to Jordan Thompson in the California tournament.
But Monfils has an important goal that makes him move forward, which is the 2024 Olympics to be held in Paris. The player who reached the quarterfinals of Beijing 2008 and the quarterfinals of Rio de Janeiro 2016 will do everything to continue to be part of the French team competing at the Olympics at home. Similarly Monfils is compatriot Nicolas Mahut. The 41-year-old tennis player is currently competing at the Mexican Open to maintain good form for the goal of attending the Olympics.
They still find the joy of playing
That is the key factor for you to pursue a sport for a long time. Almost all the seniors who still play top tennis affirm their passion and happiness when holding a racquet. After being eliminated and injured his left foot at the Australian Open recently, Rafael Nadal (36 years old) stated: “I don’t know what will happen in the future. It will take me seven months or more to recover from my injury and it will be very difficult to regain my form and rhythm. But everything for me is very simple: I love what I do.”
Fabio Fognini (35 years old) once entered the Top 10 in 2019 for a short time, now only ranked 88th on the ATP rankings. The Italian player has not had any remarkable results in recent years, winning only 1 victory since the beginning of 2023 and empty-handed since 2019. But Fognini has never thought of retiring: “Dream My biggest thing right now is to enjoy every second of my racquet running on the court, running painlessly, fighting to the end and experiencing the great emotions of victory and defeat.”
Compatriot female tennis player Sara Errani is also playing for passion. At his peak, the 35-year-old tennis player reached the final of Roland Garros and ranked 5th in the world (in 2013). After a while of being hidden, Errani has just returned to the Top 100 after 4 years of being on the beach. “It’s not that simple. I have to compete continuously at high intensity with the goal of getting back to the Top 100. I don’t need to prove myself but I want the joy of playing to come with results. For me, tennis is first of all fun and enjoyment,” Errani told L’Equipe.
They don’t want to be knocked out of the Top 100
Richard Gasquet is not aiming to win his 16th career title. But the Frenchman does not want to be left out of the Top 100. “I still love tennis and find joy in playing. I’ve been playing at the top for almost 20 years and it’s amazing I’m still in the Top 100. It’s a very, very high level. If I drop to 300 or 400, I’ll drop the racket immediately,” Gasquet affirmed.
They are still competitive
With a small number of U40 players, they still compete simply because they feel they can still compete at the highest level. John Isner and Kaia Kanepi, both 37, are the oldest players in the men’s and women’s Top 100. But they don’t feel the body’s signs of aging. “I still feel energized, can still play three hours against a strong player. I also love to fight. There is no reason for me to stop,” Isner, a tennis player with a huge body (2m08), shared.
