If you are not a tennis fan you will find this thread useless, but read on anyway.
Very rare occurrence to have this many unseeded players left at this point. You can go back 30 or 40 grand slam events dating back 7+ years maybe even 10+ and you won't find this. Typically at most 4 unseeded players make it to the round of 16.
This year you have vets like Gulbis (age 29), Monfils (age 31), and Simon (age 33) who have snuck into the final 16. the reason to me is pretty clear: modern medicine, conditioning, and supplements, are allowing athletes across all sports to prolong their careers and play at a higher level into their 30's. this has been going on for decades but right now there is a clear spike. roger federer, tom brady, drew brees, lebron james, just to name a few guys North of 33 years old (some of them damn near 40) who are dominating the game in what used to be considered old man's age.
this is making it tougher and tougher for the youngsters to break in.
anyhow, somewhat useless post but just an observation as 6 of a final 16 left in a slam Unseeded on the Men's side is such a rarity
Ciao.
Very rare occurrence to have this many unseeded players left at this point. You can go back 30 or 40 grand slam events dating back 7+ years maybe even 10+ and you won't find this. Typically at most 4 unseeded players make it to the round of 16.
This year you have vets like Gulbis (age 29), Monfils (age 31), and Simon (age 33) who have snuck into the final 16. the reason to me is pretty clear: modern medicine, conditioning, and supplements, are allowing athletes across all sports to prolong their careers and play at a higher level into their 30's. this has been going on for decades but right now there is a clear spike. roger federer, tom brady, drew brees, lebron james, just to name a few guys North of 33 years old (some of them damn near 40) who are dominating the game in what used to be considered old man's age.
this is making it tougher and tougher for the youngsters to break in.
anyhow, somewhat useless post but just an observation as 6 of a final 16 left in a slam Unseeded on the Men's side is such a rarity
Ciao.
