For
tennis players, there is no official retirement age, but when it comes to old age, most can agree that it's somewhere between 28-30. By the time players reach 28, most are considered
to be "over the hill" and retirement rumors start to swirl the minute a player loses in the second round of a Grand Slam. As recent years have shown, tennis players seem
to be putting off retirement, and reaping the rewards. Tommy Haas is just one example of a player who, at 35, is currently ranked at No. 14, and seems to be highly skilled at reversing the aging process. Based on the age charts below, the men seem to be hanging on a bit longer than the women. In 2013, men in the ATP's top 10 are almost 4 years older (on average) than they were in 2009, while the WTA's top 10 women are 1.5 years older.
Average age of ATP and WTA Players in the Top 10 - as April 11, 2009 | |||||||
WTA PLAYER | Age | ATP PLAYER | Age | ||||
1 | Dinara Safina | 23 | 1 | Rafael Nadal | 22 | ||
2 | Serena Williams | 27 | 2 | Roger Federer | 27 | ||
3 | Elena Dementieva | 27 | 3 | Novak Djokovic | 21 | ||
4 | Jelena Jankovic | 24 | 4 | Andy Murray | 21 | ||
5 | Venus Williams | 28 | 5 | Juan Martin del Potro | 20 | ||
6 | Vera Zvonareva | 24 | 6 | Andy Roddick | 26 | ||
7 | Ana Ivanovic | 21 | 7 | Giles Simon | 24 | ||
8 | Victoria Azarenka | 19 | 8 | Fernando Verdasco | 25 | ||
9 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | 23 | 9 | Nicolai Davydenko | 27 | ||
10 | Nadia Petrova | 26 | 10 | Gael Monfils | 22 | ||
average age | 24.2 | average age | 23.5 | ||||
Average age of ATP and WTA Players in the top 10 - as of April 25, 2013 | |||||||
WTA PLAYER | Age | ATP PLAYER | Age | ||||
1 | Serena Williams | 31 | 1 | Novak Djokovic | 25 | ||
2 | Maria Sharapova | 26 | 2 | Roger Federer | 31 | ||
3 | Victoria Azarenka | 23 | 3 | Andy Murray | 25 | ||
4 | Agnieszka Radwanska | 24 | 4 | David Ferrer | 31 | ||
5 | Li Na | 31 | 5 | Rafael Nadal | 26 | ||
6 | Angelique Kerber | 25 | 6 | Tomas Berdych | 27 | ||
7 | Sara Errani | 25 | 7 | Juan Martin del Potro | 24 | ||
8 | Petra Kvitova | 23 | 8 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 28 | ||
9 | Sam Stosur | 29 | 9 | Richard Gasquet | 26 | ||
10 | Caroline Wozniacki | 22 | 10 | Janko Tipsarevic | 28 | ||
average age | 25.9 | average age | 27.1 |