It's not just Novak Djokovic. Marin Cilic and other 30-somethings make their mark at Wimbledon
LONDON (AP) — After wrapping up a straight-set win on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic ran into another 38-year-old in the Wimbledon locker room.
Gael Monfils, who was born about eight months before Djokovic and is the only player in the men's draw who's older, was waiting for the start of his second-round match.
'He kind of smiled at me and said, 'Good day in the office,'' Djokovic recounted. 'At this age, he said, we need those types of days.'
Thursday was certainly a good day for the old guard at Wimbledon.
At a time when the new generation — led by Carlos Alcaraz, 22, and Jannik Sinner, 23 — is starting to take over, there will be six men in the third round who are 33 or older. (Monfils' match against Marton Fucsovics, 33, was suspended because of darkness Thursday and will be completed Friday).
On Thursday, Djokovic beat 35-year-old Dan Evans; the 34-year-old Gregor Dimitrov ousted Corentin Moutet; 35-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff finished off a win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in a match that had been suspended on Wednesday; and 36-year-old Marin Cilic beat British No. 4 seed Jack Draper, who's 23. The 37-year-old Adrian Mannarino advanced Wednesday.
And, as Struff pointed out, those turn-back-the-clock performances came after yet another 38-year-old, Fabio Fognini, pushed two-time defending champion Alcaraz to five sets in the first round.
'It's amazing,' said Struff, who faces Alcaraz on Centre Court on Friday. 'You see a lot of older players playing good tennis. So that motivates me, as well, to keep going.'
Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and twice a major runner-up elsewhere, is coming back to top-level tennis after having two knee operations and then playing in lower-level Challenger Tour events this year to boost his ranking. He had to make it through qualifying rounds just to get into the bracket at the French Open, where he lost in the first round.
He's making his first Wimbledon appearance since 2021, and is pleased see some players his own age still around.
'It's great to see them playing, continuing to play well," Cilic said, "and using this experience to play great in Grand Slams.'
The older guys, it seems, often stick together behind the scenes.
'All of us, we have tremendous respect for each other," Dimitrov said. "We do these things, little gather-ups when we're having lunch, and even in the locker rooms. The funniest thing is, it takes us a lot more time to prepare. Sometimes you have to prepare an hour and a half for a 30-minute hit.'
Being one of the veterans on tour also makes it easier to appreciate life as a tennis player, Dimitrov said. But he acknowledged that some other things were better when he was younger.
'Would I like to have things … a little bit easier on the body? Yes,' he said. "But at this point, being able to compete against the guys, winning matches still, giving a hard time to the best players — that's one reason to keep on playing.'
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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