Date-Krumm,Hass stir up age debate

Kimiko Date-Krumm remembers the good ol days,when she used to shop in the morning

Kimiko Date-Krumm remembers the good ol days,when she used to shop in the morning,then go play tennis at night. Those days are over at least the shopping part. At 42 years young,Date-Krumm,was still out there there,the oldest of the old in what is turning into quite a renaissance for the aging set this tennis season,and here at Wimbledon this week.

When I was young,even during the tournament,I had energy for the shopping,but now I have no energy for that, Date-Krumm said on Saturday,shortly after she fell to the tournaments top thirty-something,Serena Williams.

In all,nine of the 32 players remaining for the second week of Wimbledon will be 30 or over,tying the Wimbledon open-era record for the fourth round,last reached in 1975.

As of this week,the average age of the top 20 players on the mens tour is 27 years,260 days more than 2 years older than it was 10 years ago,according to STATS Inc. And on the womens tour over the last 10 years,the average age has spiked by almost exactly two years to 26 years,213 days. Players such as 31-year-old Li Na,31-year-old Mikhail Youzhny,31-year-old David Ferrer and 35-year-old Tommy Haas contribute to those numbers. Also on Saturday,Haas defeated 31-year-old Feliciano Lopez in four sets .

All of this feels like a different world to Pat Cash,the 1987 Wimbledon champion,who played in the days when the sight of a 37-year-old Ilie Nastase or a 39-year-old Jimmy Connors prowling the court wasnt unheard of.

When I was playing,once you hit 30,the tournament directors wouldnt look your way, Cash said. Now,theyre realising that these players like Lleyton Hewitt and Haas are still drawing cards. So these players can get into tournaments,get practice and their bodies can get toughened up again after injuries more than they could 15 years ago.

The grinding nature of todays tennis has,in many ways,created more injuries,but also put an emphasis on finding more ways to avoid them. A lot of people are smarter over the years about what to do in order to get in better shape, Haas said. You have a good team around you. You can do a lot of stuff,also,nutrition-wise.

Exhibit A

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Williams is Exhibit A on how to extend a career,though she hardly took a traditional route. Different interests and injuries dictated she miss large chunks of time over the years,which might explain how she is feeling fresh and dominating the oldest woman to reach No. 1,at age 31. But,she concedes,she doesnt feel the same as when she was 21.

I feel its more difficult, she said. It takes me longer to get fit. If I take a couple of weeks off,then I find that I lose my fitness quicker than what I used to. So it takes me a little bit longer to get fully back into shape. Thats the only difficult part.