5 Oldest players to reach an ATP Tour final since 1990 ft. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
Tennis is a very demanding sport physically and it requires a lot of effort from a player to sustain their form and fitness at the top level. The competition is very stiff at the ATP level and most of the top players start experiencing a decline in form by the time they reach 35.
However, there have been a few players during the last few decades, who have displayed good form even at a very advanced age In this article, we will take a look at five oldest players to reach an ATP final since 1990:
#5. Rafael Nadal - 38 years and 48 days (Swedish Open 2024):
A lot of tennis lovers all over the world had written Nadal off after his loss in the first round of his favorite French Open to Alexander Zverev. However, the Spaniard has since made a great return to clay-court tennis by reaching the final of the Swedish Open in Bastad.
However, Nadal had to beat Mariano Navone in a four-hour epic in the quarterfinal for that. He then beat Duje Ajdukovic in the semifinal in another three-setter. It remains to be seen whether he can win the title this time around.
#4. Roger Federer - 38 years and 80 days (Basel 2019):
Federer effectively retired in 2019 itself, but did not fail to win the Basel Open title before that. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal and also thrashed Alex de Minaur in the final in straight sets. Federer thus beat two much younger opponents in his last two matches in the tournament.
The Swiss maestro's 10th title in Basel came when he was well past 38. It also remains the last of his 103 career ATP titles.
#3. Ivo Karlovic - 38 years and 110 days (Den Bosch 2017)
Karlovic was well-known for his big serves and retained his ability to serve big even while he approached 40. He reached the final on the grass of Den Bosch by beating Marin Cilic in the semifinal.
However, he lost to Gilles Muller, who was 34 at that time, in the final. It was quite a commendable feat for the big Croatian to reach an ATP final at that age.
#2. Stan Wawrinka - 38 years and 124 days (Umag 2023)
Wawrinka is one of the very good players in the game, who could have achieved so much more had it not been for the Big Three. He rolled back the years to win the title in Umag, Croatia, in 2023, displaying some quality tennis
He beat Lorenzo Sonego in the semifinal and then Alexei Popyrin in the final, both in straight sets. It remains the Swiss player's last title till date.
#1. Ivo Karlovic - 39 years and 311 days ( Pune 2019)
Yet again, Karlovic reached an ATP final in his latter years, but failed to win the title, in 2019. He faced another big-server in the form of Kevin Anderson in the final.
However, he beat the likes of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Steve Darcis and Ernests Gulbis prior to that to get to the summit clash. It was the last ATP final the Croat played in.