Happy 40th, Ivo

[El Dude]

Almost - he turns 40 on February 28, but I wanted to write this because otherwise I might forget.

He's current ranked #78, which means he'll almost certainly be in the top 100 when he turns 40. I am not absolutely certain but I think he might be the oldest player in the top 100, and the first 40 year old, in over 25 years.

Tommy Haas and Radek Stepanek both turned 40 in 2018, but both lost their ATP ranking that year and neither has been in the top 100 for a few years (Stepanek last in 2017 at age 38, Haas in 2015 at age 36). Even the ancient Fabrice Santoro was last in the top 100 at age 37 in 2010.

My best guess is that we have to go back to the great Jimmy Connors, who was last in the top 100 in 1993 at age 40. He fell out in February of '93, several months before turning 41 in September.

Before Connors...well, I'm not certain but we might have to go all the way back to the amazingly ageless Ken Rosewall, who was not only in the top 100 until he was 45 in 1979, but was in the top 20 at age 43 and ranked as high as #2 at age 40.

Roger Federer has a good chance of being the next 40 year old in the top 100 if he plays that long. He doesn't turn 40 until August 7 of 2021 - so that's two and a half years from now.

 

[herios]

Congrats to Ivo for his long lasting career.

 

[The_Grand_Slam]

In one of his latest interviews ,he said he will play for 8 or 9 years more.

Interviewer tried to laugh it off but Karlovic said he wasn't joking

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Don't the robotic tree servers have an advantage in longevity? If they can win a lot of point by just bombing aces, then they need to move very little and so the wear and tear on the body will be less for the same mileage as compared to other players.

May be someone should do a study of longevity of trees as compared to longevity of shrubs.

 

[herios]

Don't the robotic tree servers have an advantage in longevity? If they can win a lot of point by just bombing aces, then they need to move very little and so the wear and tear on the body will be less for the same mileage as compared to other players.

May be someone should do a study of longevity of trees as compared to longevity of shrubs.

They are also more fragile and they get injured also, because they still have to move/run, it is not like they just stay petrified at the serving line.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

They are also more fragile and they get injured also, because they still have to move/run, it is not like they just stay petrified at the serving line.

Sure, they also have to move and they also get injured. It is all relative. If you are going to get a lot of free points on serve, then it cuts down the movement substantially. That is what is my point.

 

[Moxie]

Sure, they also have to move and they also get injured. It is all relative. If you are going to get a lot of free points on serve, then it cuts down the movement substantially. That is what is my point.

I agree with you. Dr. Evil wouldn't be still in the game if he were a grinder. He has a fantastic service motion, and I don't remember a shoulder issue, ever. He did have that one weird brain illness which almost ended his career, but I really don't remember him being MIA for much else. Anyway, happy birthday to the big man. I don't love his game, but he seems a genuinely nice person.