The 30-somethings in the Top 100

[Kieran]

Going back to old guys like Haas. The chap developed a dose of the trots when he was young and actually stood a chance. You think Rafa takes toilet breaks? Back in the day, Haas was a guy who'd use a toilet break to actually spring a leak.

Okay, so you get older and wiser, but is that all there is to it? Maybe there's an itch that hasn't been satisfied. And maybe the older lads are probably enjoying tennis more now where they cane be nameless snipers, than they did in their prime, when they had a name. I like Haas's style of play, because he shows that the old ways can be effective. It's a pity he's injury prone, but I enjoy him while he's there. If he does nothing else, he's showing up the youngsters...

 

[TennisFanatic7]

I think Haas' longevity may have been helped by the stretches he's missed with injuries in the past, plus the fact that generally, players in all sports tend to last slightly longer now than they used to as there's always increasing awareness of how to look after your body etc. Still the point stands that if a 36 year old man can keep up with the top 20 there's no reason why people should be giving the 20-21 year olds a free pass to stagnate for a couple of years because the sport is more physical now.

 

[Rose]

With Tommy's shoulder acting up yet again I'm not sure how much longer he can continue to play?

 

[Front242]

Sadly I'm thinking the same. I hope this isn't his final year on tour If not for his damn shoulder he'd be making the WTF cut for sure. Tragic. Seems to ok for one or two matches max all this year. He's gets a good win and retires next match. On a different note, to compare him to Nishikori, at 24 Nishikori is retiring a lot and you can imagine how banged up he'll be at 36. Not that he's gonna still playing ATP tennis then, just saying.

 

[herios]

Sadly I'm thinking the same. I hope this isn't his final year on tour If not for his damn shoulder he'd be making the WTF cut for sure.

I doubt it, Front. Last year, when he had no shoulder issues, he was not able to break into the top 10, never mind the top 8. Close, but not sufficiently steady.

 

[TennisFanatic7]

^Agreed. I like Haas and his style but at this moment in time is he really better than the likes of Raonic, Dimitrov, Isner and co. above him who are looking to sneak into the top 8? Not really, for me.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Funny Tidbit (but literally true).

Stan Wawrinka lost to the youngest player in Top 100 of ATP rankings in Madrid
and then followed it up by losing to the oldest player in Top 100 of ATP rankings in Rome.

So, What does this say about Stan?

Anybody from youngest to oldest can beat Stan? uzzled

 

[herios]

If Grigor is "Baby Federer," then he's about where Fed was at age 20 - so three years behind the trajectory.

Does this means he will be the 2016 Wimbledon winner?

 

[herios]

I don't see Raonic winning majors because as soon as a classy player gets him involved in actually playing tennis, he hasn't got much to say for himself.

Raonic leads the H2H against Andy Murray for example with 3-1. Or perhaps Andy Murray is not someone who you consider a "classy player" ?

 

[Denis]

I don't see Raonic winning majors because as soon as a classy player gets him involved in actually playing tennis, he hasn't got much to say for himself.

Raonic leads the H2H against Andy Murray for example with 3-1. Or perhaps Andy Murray is not someone who you consider a "classy player" ?

I wouldn't!

I was impressed with what I saw of Raonic in the highlights in his match against Novak. But those are highlights. I haven't seen a proper Raonic match since his abysmal performance against the fedster at the AO in 2013.

 

[Front242]

^ His best performance surely was when he played Golum in Lord of the rings.

 

[tented]

^ His best performance surely was when he played Golum in Lord of the rings.

Raonic? He's a cross between Charlie Brown and a young Beethoven.

 

[El Dude]

I thought Raonic was in Leave it to Beaver, at least with his new haircut.

 

[herios]

If

There's currently three under 21 players in the top 100. Credit to the older guys for prolonging their careers but the kids should be doing more for me.

Good luck with that. They will not come out of nowhere. Until you see a 20 or 21 year old winning at least an obscure small ATP event, or at least get to a final, no chance in hell you will see again a slam winner at such an age.

I'm not saying they should be winning slams at that age but I don't think it's unreasonable to hope to see more than three players of 21 or under in the top 100 for the sake of the future. The great hopes of this generation are Raonic and Dimitrov who have a handful of minor titles and what, one quarter-final each at slam level? That's at the age of 23, compared to the current crop, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer (and Delpo) were all slam winners by 21 and Murray made his first slam final at that age.

Sure it might be harsh to compare them to a very strong generation but all I said is that they should be doing more. Tomic, for example, has no excuse. Wimbledon quarter-finalist aged 18 and barely heard of him since.

Now, there are technically 4 21 years and under in the top 100. Vesely, who has been in the top 100 since July 2013, dropped out temporarily for the last 3 weeks, he is now firmly back with his current run in Dusseldorf.

 

[TennisFanatic7]

Yeah, live-tennis.eu is forecasting him to rise to 81. Could go as high as 58 if he wins the whole thing.

 

[Kieran]

Okay, so now I'm trying to set a record even GSM won't break, by having the last post in every thread on the page.

What about Melzer as an old guy? Chap is as old as Dracula and he just went up 8 places in the rankings. I always liked him, and he pulled off a huge upset beating a pre-2011 Nole in one of the matches that maybe forced Nole to think more seriously about where he's going in the game...