Of the 53 tournaments played so far on the ATP Tour in 2009 only three have been won by players aged 30 and over - Radek Stepanek (Brisbane & San Jose) and Tommy Haas (Halle).
And no better for the older generation of players is that fact that just one player aged 29 has won a tour title this year - Juan Carlos Ferrero (Casablanca) - meaning that a sport which many considered to be a young man's game... is possibly getting even younger.
The simple fact of the matter is that professional tennis players reach the 'tipping point' of their career around 27/28 and even if their performance at this age has simply levelled off (and not declined in any way) you can be sure that the next move will only be one way. And that's down.
As such, a number of leading players on tour are destined for barren times as Lleyton Hewitt (28), Nikolay Davydenko (28) and Fernando Gonzalez (29 - but last won as a 28-year-old) all stand on the edge of the abyss whilst former top tenners like James Blake (29), Marat Safin (29) and Ivan Ljubicic (30) already seem to be in freefall.
2009 Tour Wins By Age |
| Age | Number Of Wins |
| 20 | 5 |
| 21 | 6 |
| 22 | 9 |
| 23 | 5 |
| 24 | 2 |
| 25 | 3 |
| 26 | 5 |
| 27 | 5 |
| 28 | 9 |
| 29 | 1 |
| 30+ | 3 |
Best days behind them
Even players like Nalbandian, Youzhny, Robredo, Ferrer & Roddick - who are all aged 27 - could best be described as having 'their best days on tour behind them'.
And of more concern, right at the top of the rankings, is that Roger Federer has now turned the big 2-8 which will make next year a very interesting one indeed for the world's No.1 player. For sure he has played as well as ever in 2009, winning the two Grand Slams he needed to surpass the record of Pete Sampras but the fact remains that of his 61 career titles, the Swiss player won 45 by the end of 2006 - when he was just 25 years old. That's represents 74% of his titles by his mid-20's ... and a lot less since.
There are examples of some players, notably Andre Agassi, who can beat Father Time and remain competitive at the highest level (and win titles) well into their 30's but for most players this simply isn't the case.
Win in your early 20's
The general trend for players destined for the top of the game is to start winning events around 19, 20 and 21 (as seen with Nadal, Murray, Djokovic & Del Potro) which means that from the age of 22 to 26 there is still scope for improvement but, at the very least, they keep winning tournaments (as with Roddick, Verdasco, Tsonga, Soderling & Simon).
Then something happens. Around that crucial age of 27/28 the wins tend to become less often, more ranking points are lost, injuries start to take their toll... and so by the age of 30, 31 or 32 most players are already thinking of retiring if they haven't already hung up their racquet.
To us form students, such findings are of importance because when we are selecting bets, whether in matches or outright markets, we need to be familiar with these kind of statistics so as to recognise which players have a winning profile - and which ones can make us money.
