When age catches up with a tennis player

For twenty years, men’s tennis consisted mainly of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Now Federer is retired and a hobbled Nadal is nearing the end. Djokovic won three Grand Slam events last year, but at 36 he is suddenly struggling, even as he sits at No. 1 at the French Open.

But under Mount Olympus, life is different for tennis mortals. Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic all won Grand Slam events and are still playing, as are Gaël Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Fabio Fognini, Roberto Bautista Agut and Kei Nishikori, players who once broke the top 10.

These players are still wrestling in reduced conditions, much lower in the rankings than in their halcyon days. These old men of the court — all 34 to 39 years old — win a few matches here and there without much chance of regaining their former glory, but they keep grinding.

Now only Monfils, at 36, remains in the top 50. Murray is at 75, while Bautista Agut, Wawrinka, Fognini and Gasquet are ranked from 80 to 124. Cilic has dropped to 1,063 but has just undergone a second knee operation in hopes of a comeback, while Nishikori is at 347 and still striving for a return to the pitch. (The miraculous inverse of all this is Adrian Mannarino, who at 35 broke into the top 20 for the first time this year.)

“Every day I ask myself why I’m still doing this,” Monfils said with a laugh, before citing his “passion for the game” as his motivation. (He has an added incentive: His wife, Elina Svitolina, who is 29 and still ranked in the WTA’s top 20, “pushes me quite a bit.”)

Perhaps one of these players can do a Jimmy Connors. In 1991, at age 39 and plagued by injuries, Connors, long written off as a contender, entered the US Open ranked 174th and stormed to the semifinals, twice coming from behind to win in five sets.

“He’s perhaps better known for that than for winning eight majors,” noted broadcaster Patrick McEnroe, who lost a two-sets-to-love lead to Connors in the first round that year.

It’s highly unlikely anyone could do that in today’s physically demanding game, McEnroe said, with the possible exception of Murray’s rise at Wimbledon. “Most of them don’t think ‘I want to make one big run,’” he added. “They play because they’ve been doing it all their lives and they make a good living at it. And it’s still a damn good job to have.”

McEnroe said it was easier for these players to accept the shortcomings caused by age than Federer or Nadal, who played every match and tournament expecting to win. These players may not realistically expect to win in five sets against youngsters like Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, “but they won’t give in.” he said. “They respect themselves, their opponents and the game.”

Murray is such a realist. He is always quick to get frustrated with himself on court, but he still experiences disappointment in every defeat. But he said you have to “accept that at Grand Slams there may not be deep runs anymore.”

“What I’m doing, trying to play at the highest level, is incredibly challenging,” said the ever candid Murray. After working so hard to get back on the pitch after hip surgery, he’s now just trying to enjoy the experience. “Even the work and the training,” he added.

According to Bautista Agut, motivation changed as he got older.

“It took me a while to understand that my situation is not the same as it used to be,” he said. “I don’t have to be focused on winning tournaments or getting back into the top 10. My goal now is to enjoy tennis, enjoy the things I practice and try to do that on the court.”

And while Wawrinka is still searching for the intense emotions he believes only come from winning a big match in a big tournament, he continues to play for similar reasons.

“I know I’m lucky,” he said. “I love the game and the process, and I’m still motivated to try to improve myself.”

While Gasquet said he tried to adapt by coming to the net more like Federer did as he got older, Wawrinka refused. “I’m confident in my fitness,” he said. Monfils tried to play more aggressively, but it didn’t suit me. “It’s not my game, so it’s difficult to change at the end of my career,” he said. “Instead, I work very hard to keep my speed on the court.”

Carlos Costa, Andrey Rublev’s coach, said that as players get older, they can train for less time or with less intensity between matches. “It takes more time to warm up and cool down, and it’s more hectic on the body,” he said.

Because recovery from even minor injuries takes longer, players must plan their schedule carefully. Perhaps they can limit the number of consecutive tournaments they participate in, Costa said.

Of course, the end comes for everyone. When John Isner retired last summer at the age of 38, he said it was more about his health than about results.

“I love competing, and even though some of the losses are horrible, I wanted to keep giving myself chances,” he said. “But I’m not going to miss how hard it was to get my body ready, warm up, practice and cool down. Then I broke my wrist. When it became difficult to even stay on the field, it was an easy decision.”

Each player has their own perspective. For Gasquet, he said it would be his body, and not the results, that would tell him it is time to leave. For Bautista Agut, it would be a combination of injuries, travel and the needs of his family. But he said winning still mattered, even lower down the rankings.

“If I lose to players I shouldn’t lose to,” he said. “I’ll think about quitting.”