Tennis' aging field: Federer, Venus and Serena Williams reach Australian Open final

Five reasons why older players are still able to compete at a high level, after three players over the age of 35 advanced to the Australian Open finals.

Jon Wertheim | Jan 26, 2017

Tennis' aging field: Federer, Venus and Serena Williams reach Australian Open final /

MEBLOURNE – As it was written: “Don’t worry about the world ending. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.” Yet the 2017 Australian Open has been themed by the retro, not the futuristic. Six of the eight semifinals in the men’s and women’s draw were 30-and-over. For perspective, the age of eligibility on tennis’ Seniors Tour is 35.

The average age of the remaining competitors only went up on Thursday. Venus Williams, 36, out-battled CoCo Vandeweghe and reached her first major final since 2009. She then, endearingly, celebrated in a way at odds with her age. Her sister Serena, a stripling at 35, followed up by beating 34-year-old pup, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. When Serena plays at the level she betrayed today, it’s like playing chess against the computer. You won’t win. You just hope to compete well.

No. 13-seed Venus Williams into Australian Open final against sister Serena

Roger Federer, also 35, did his part to arrange the Fed/Nadal final anticipated by so many—not least those whose bonuses rely on ratings. Federer played well when he needed it most, took advantage of the fast court (again) and beat Stan Wawrinka for the 19th time in 22 meetings. For good measure, the Bryan Brothers, age 38, closed in on their seventh Australian Open, reaching the final.

But why is the field aging? Why are players able to compete at this level into their 30s? Here are five explanations:

1) “The sport has never been more physical.” It's become tennis’ unofficial slogan. What does this mean? Full physical maturity is required. So that will impact the average age. The notion of slinky teenagers competing with men in a best-of-five format is almost laughable. Later arriving guests are late to depart.

2) “The sport has never been wealthier.” What does this mean? Players can afford to bring nutritionists and physios with them on the road. They can afford hotel suites and private jets. They benefit from modern medicine and state-of-the-art treatment. Surely this plays a role in reducing wear and tear and encouraging longevity.

History of the Serena vs. Venus Williams rivalry at the Australian Open

3) The tournament schedule and requirements are lax. The days of top players entering 20-plus events a year are no longer. Serena played only seven tournaments in all of 2016. She, Federer and Nadal all took off the fall. After this event, some players won’t play again until March. Know how keeping the odometer down adds years to your car? Same for these sensitive instruments.

4) The aforementioned players are really, really good. So much so they can overcome historical trends.

Mailbag: Thoughts on the "throwback" Australian Open and longevity in the game

4b. They’re still hungry. The have different motivations (alltime records in Serena’s case; Federer’s enjoyment of being Federer; Venus’ sheer love and admission that she’s unsure what comes next.) But each WANTS to continue.

We’ll see how the rest of the weekend plays out. This we know: Federer, Venus and Serena….they would kick ass on any senior’s tour.

Mailbag

“If" Wawrinka were to win this Australian Open, does he move into the Big 4? Or do the privileges of knighthood afford Andy a little more time to defend his position?
—Yves, Montreal

• Note that I writing this before the men’s semifinal is completed. I’m still on the Murray bandwagon. Two Olympic golds have to count for something. And Murray has won more than double Wawrinka’s prize money. But take nothing away from Stanislas. Over the last three years, he’s won more majors than Murray, Federer and Nadal combined.

Bryan Brothers reach Australian Open doubles final

I realize there's not a perfect way to handle the second week of scheduling at the Slams (although Wimbledon comes closest) but the Australian Open definitely handles it the worst. On the men's side one finalist gets an extra day of rest than the other finalist. Meanwhile, the women are relegated to the day sessions for both the quarterfinals and semifinals. Is there much discussion from the players and/or media on this or is it a "it is what it is" situation?

P.S. Also, I have an LLS for you: Grigor Dimitov's coach Dani Vallverdu and Tottenham's manager Mauricio Pochettino
—Blake R., Denver, Colo.

• Yeah, scheduling is inherently problematic. Throw in television, night finals and time differences and it gets worse. The women get zero days—fewer than 24 hours—between the quarters and the semis. Yet the winner of Thursday’s Federer/Wawrinka match gets three full days.

My gripe is more macro: the first few days are absolutely chaos, of the blissful variety. You cannot keep up with matches. By the second Monday things slow to a crawl. Like so many issues in tennis, problems and double-standards are easy to come by. Solutions, less so.

As disappointing as that loss was for Goffin if he can consistently make the quarterfinals in Slams that will be a successful career for him and exceed most if not all expectations people had for him.
—James

• It’s funny, I thought Benoit Paire would give Dominic Thiem a better match. Then, I thought Thiem would give Goffin a matter match. Then, I thought Goffin would give Dimitrov a better match. So it goes. The current debate: is Goffin more like David Ferrer or more like Gilles Simon? Regardless both are admirable players who never won a major. I fear Goffin is headed for the same fate.

Both Serena, Lucic-Baroni exemplify strength and staying power in different ways

While watching the Australian Open, I have had these questions that fall outside of the story lines of the draw:

1) For the top pros, how long do they typically use a specific racquet frame: just for one match, one tournament, a few months, a year? If they retire them quickly, going through a lot of frames, why?

2) Watching the ball kids (something I have always wanted to do), I have been wondering what sort of interesting rules they are taught to follow, e.g., maybe no eye contact with players or others we might not realize are part of the training.

3) Commentators periodically mentioned the difference between the significance the players put on the year-end championships versus the fans. This is true for me too—I watch the majors (plus some Indian Wells) consistently, but rarely any of the year-end finals. I wonder if the fact that the majors bring the whole elite tennis world together—men and women—for one meet is one of the differences (along with the fixed locations, perhaps) and if there is discussion about the ATP and WTA coordinating their championships into a single, larger event to elevate the fan awareness/focus.
—John H. Campbell, Portland, Ore.

1) Totally depends. I’ve heard stories on both ends. Serena is famously “unpicky” about her gear. When she won here several years ago, she allegedly used one racket for all seven matches. Other players will switch early and often. I’m told that Lendl is credited with the era sensitivity. He would switch rackets every X games because string tension was dropping.

2) There’s a whole protocol to working as a ball kid. I’m always amazed at how many pros were ballkids in their youth. (Including Federer.)

3) Coordinate? Tennis? For the fans’ benefit? Hahaha.

The incredible comeback story of Australian Open semifinalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

I noticed that Venus and Serena were not courtside watching each other's quarterfinal matches and I recall seeing them watching each other at past Grand Slams. Is this because they are so deep in the tournament they're trying to stay focused? Because they might face each other? Thanks.
—EB, Brooklyn

• I seem to remember Venus in the stands for one of Serena’s earlier matches. But remember: they played on alternate days so I suspect this was just a matter of logistics.

Good to see Andrey Rublev in the Aussie Open draw. Is there any other player you know who shares a name with a film? Jon, I'm disappointed in you.

How could you overlook such classics as: “Tsonga the South,” “Bring Me the Head of Caroline Garcia,” “Vania King's Speech”and lest we forget the small screen, "McHale's Navy." Not to mention the fact that there were 1940's to 1950's American movie stars named Rogers and Crawford and Davis and Williams and Day.
—Patrick of La Verne

• Well played. “Roger and me.” “Valley of Nadal.” “Venus in Fur.” Anything produced by David Geffen, er, David Goffin….more suggestions welcome.

Snapshots from the Semifinals

Australian Open 2017 semifinals

Rafael Nadal

"I think Grigor played great. I played great. So was a great quality of tennis tonight. So just for me, is amazing to be through to a final of Grand Slam again here in Australia at the first of the year. Means a lot to me. I feel the love of the people here. They give me a lot of positive energy."

Rafael Nadal

Grigor Dimitrov

"For sure Rafa deserves pretty much all the credit right now since he's such a fighter, such a competitor. At the same time it was an honor for me to play a match like that against him. It also shows me that I'm in a good way, I'm on the right path. I'm just trying to take all the positives out of this month in Australia. I'm sure I'm going to look back at that match and see what I could have done better. But at least one thing I can say is that I left it all out on the court. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of my team. Proud of my coach. Everyone that has taken care of me that month, it's been super intense. We can relax for a little bit now and get back to work."

Rafael Nadal

Grigor Dimitrov

"I just don't want to put my head down for a second right now, especially when I'm feeling good, I'm competing great. Physically I'm getting there. Despite the disappointment, that's going to feed me, I think, for the upcoming events. The one thing that's going to be hard for me the first three or four days, to really absorb that, like, Wow, I was so close. I need to appreciate it. At the same time I'm appreciating my run so far. It's been a great start of the year. It doesn't happen often that you come off from 10 matches in a row."

Rafael Nadal

"Well, was amazing for me, for me and I think for tennis, too. Is the combination of two different styles that makes the matches really special. Is different way to play tennis. Both of us, I think, having a lot of good success with these two different styles. I feel that this rivalry go not only in the tennis world. People from outside of our world talks about this, and that's good for our sport. Is good that we are back there."

Rafael Nadal

Grigor Dimitrov

Grigor Dimitrov

Venus Williams

"That moment was just joy. It was a heartfelt match. If the match is 6-2, 6-2, you know, the moment is kind of clear that it's going to happen. But she played so well. There was never a moment where she wasn't just hitting the ball amazing and striking the ball with just such precision. It's always very satisfying to be able to get through in such a big match against an opponent who was just on fire."

CoCo Vandeweghe

"I think Venus is an unbelievable competitor. Putting age aside, age is just a number. For her to be the great champion that she is is a great accomplishment. It doesn't matter if she's 36 or 18 or anything like that. For me, I appreciate her as an athlete, as a competitor, as well as I would probably be feeling joy and glee if I had won the match today. I think it shows kind of the human aspect of sports. I think that's a very important factor that sometimes gets pushed to the side. We're all human. We're not perfect out there. We're going to have some screw-ups. You're also kind of watching us have our high moments and low moments, as well."

CoCo Vandeweghe

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

"Yesterday for sure, also emotionally it was quite draining. It was really incredible. Physically, I mean, every day I played. It was difficult to heal the leg. It was difficult to do everything. But I don't want to make it about that. No excuse at all. It was tough, for sure. It would have been nice to have a day off, but I didn't. I tried my best today. I feel like I have nothing to be ashamed of."

Venus Williams

"What I will say about sport, I think why people love sport so much, is because you see everything in a line. In that moment there is no do-over, there's no retake, there is no voice-over. It's triumph and disaster witnessed in real-time. This is why people live and die for sport, because you can't fake it. You can't. It's either you do it or you don't. People relate to the champion. They also relate to the person also who didn't win because we all have those moments in our life. Is it an athlete's job to inspire? Inherently what I think athletes do at a top level inspires people, but each person takes that responsibility differently."

Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe

Venus Williams

"When I'm playing on the court with her, I think I'm playing the best competitor in the game. I don't think I'm chump change either, you know. I can compete against any odds. No matter what, I get out there and I compete...I know that it won't be easy. You have to control yourself, then you also have to hopefully put your opponent in a box. This opponent is your sister, and she's super awesome. It's wonderful."

Venus Williams

Serena Williams

"We definitely talk. I think now more so than anything. Nothing can break our family. If anything, this will definitely bring us closer together, knowing that I want to see her do the best that she can possibly do. I know that she definitely wants to see me do the best that I can do. This is a story. This is something that I couldn't write a better ending. This is a great opportunity for us to start our new beginning."

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Serena Williams

Serena Williams

"It definitely makes it uncomfortable. But after everything that Venus has been through with her illness and stuff, I just can't help but feel like it's a win-win situation for me. I was there for the whole time. We lived together. I know what she went through. It's the one time that I really genuinely feel like no matter what happens, I can't lose, she can't lose. It's going to be a great situation."

Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer

Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka

"I cannot just be happy to win two sets against Roger. I just lost a five-set match in semifinal of Australian Open... I'm proud of myself, of the fight I give tonight and all the tournament. I think there is a lot of positive from this tournament, from Brisbane, from the month already. For sure I'm really sad and disappointed with a loss like that because to be that close to have won a semifinal, it can be only sad." But at the end I know I tried everything on the court. I came from two sets down. I change completely the momentum. I start to be extra aggressive because I had to change few things also physically. So I change my game with that."

Stan Wawrinka, Roger Federer

Roger Federer

"At some point you reach a limit, and you just can't go beyond that. You can play them tight. You might win one of them. You just can't win back-to-back. Just not feeling free enough, you know, in your mind, in your body. That's where both, I guess, Rafa and myself said, Okay, enough of this already. Let's get back to 100%, enjoy tennis again, enjoy the practice. Not just practice, treatment, practice, treatment, match, treatment. All the time all you're doing is fighting the fire. From that standpoint, yeah, the six months definitely gave me something in return."

Published Jan 26, 2017

JON WERTHEIM

Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat , sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for "60 Minutes" and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor's in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.