滿有趣的文章，關於職業網球員年紀的古今差異比較，小威竟然能在33歲年紀挑戰年度全滿貫壯舉，想到就讓人起雞皮疙瘩，只要把時間小拉回到10年前超過30歲不是已經退休就是準備退休，但短短幾年後現今男女網球都呈現老人當道的景象，不過網球運動的趨勢轉變，除了讓老人職業生涯延長，卻也造成球員成熟期後推，天才少年、少女在未來更難出現，不知是好是壞…
17 unbelievable facts showing the radical transformation of tennis
It’s no secret that the game of professional tennis has skewed older in recent years, with Roger Federer and Serena Williams staying at the top of their games into their mid-30s, teenagers hardly making a dent on the ATP and women frequently breaking into the WTA’s top 10 around age 28, almost double the age when such breakouts used to happen.
In the days of Chrissie Evert, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, it was routine for girls who didn’t have their driver’s license to occupy spots in the top 10. Men always tended to skew older, but still had young stars, such as Boris Becker winning Wimbledon at 17 and, somewhat recently, Rafael Nadal winning the French Open at age 19.
男子球員：
1. In 1992 the average age of the men’s top 10 was 23.2 years.
In 2002 it was 24.5 years.
In 2015 it’s 28.6 years.
1. 世界前十的均齡
2. In the latest rankings, only one player (24-year-old Milos Raonic) is younger than the average age from just 13 years ago.
2. 根據最新排名，世界前十中只有1位球員(Raonic,24)的年紀低於13年前的均齡
3. On the men’s side, there have been 10 teenage Grand Slam winners (including multiple winners such as Boris Becker and Mats Wilander). Right now there are just four teenagers in the top 100 and the furthest any of them has gotten in a Grand Slam is to the third round. Half of those players either have zero or one wins in a major.
3. 歷史上有過10個青少年大滿貫得主，現在世界前100名只有4位青少年球員，他們在大滿貫走得最遠的成績也只有第三輪，而且有半數不是只拿過一勝就是一場都還沒贏過。
4. There is one teenager currently in the top 75. There were six players ranked that high 30 years ago, including two in the top 10.
4. 目前前75名中沒有一個是青少年，30年前有6位，而且有兩位是世界前十。
5. On the flip side, there were three players over the age of 28 in the top 40 back in 1985. This year, 18 of the top 25 are that old and 24 of the top 40 are over 28.
5. 1985年世界前40只有3位超過28歲，今年光前25名就有18位、前40名有24位。
6. In 1995, the highest ranked 32-year-old man was No. 124 in the world and only eight men of that age were ranked in the top 500. Right now, 18 players that old are ranked higher than No. 124, including five in the top 25 (and the world No. 3, Federer)
6. 1995年32歲的男子球員最高排名只到124名，世界前500也僅存8位，現今有18位相同年紀的球員高於124名，其中有5位是世界前25名。
7. As recently as a decade ago, there were seven players aged 32 or above in the top 100. The 20th ranked player who was 32+ was ranked No. 676. Today, there are 12 players in the top 100 and the 20th ranked player that old is No. 192.
7. 10年前的世界前100名只有7位球員是32歲或高於32歲，所有年紀32+球員中第20高的排名是676名，現今世界前100名有12位，第20高的排名是192名。
8. Of the 20 youngest Grand Slam winners, only five have won that major since 2005. The last teenager to win one was Rafael Nadal, who turned 19 while winning the 2005 French Open.
8. 歷史上前20年輕的大滿貫得主中只有5位在2005年後拿過GS，最後一位贏得大滿貫的青少年是2005年法網剛滿19歲的Nadal。
女子球員：
9. In 1992 the average age of the women’s top 10 was 21.7 years.
In 2002 it was 22.0 years.
In 2014 it’s 25.9 years.
11. 世界前十均齡
10. In the latest rankings, only one player (21-year-old Garbine Muguruza) is younger than the average age of top 10ers from 2002.
10. 根據最新排名，世界前十中只有1位(Muguruza,21)低於2002年的均齡
11. Serena Williams became the oldest woman to ever win a Grand Slam when she took the title at Wimbledon and of course, she shows precisely zero signs of slowing down.
11. 當小威贏得溫網時，她寫下最高齡女球員拿下GS的歷史紀錄，當然，現在的她一點衰退的跡象都沒有
12. In 1990, half the women in the year-end top 10 were teenagers during that season. Currently, there are only three teenagers in the top 100.
12. 1990年的年終前十有半數是青少年球員，目前世界前百中只有3位。
13. Also in 1990, 20 women in the top 30 were under 23 years old. Currently, there are six players in the top 30 who are younger than 23.
13. 同樣在1990年世界前30名有20位年齡低於23歲，目前只有6位。
14. Eight women have won Grand Slams before turning 19. This year, there is only one such teenager ranked in the entire top 150 (Ana Konjuh at No. 81).
14. 歷史上有8位能在滿19歲前拿下GS，今年只有一位這樣的青少年球員位列世界前150名中。(Ana Konjuh,81)(這裡怪怪的，Belinda Bencic也還沒滿19不是?)
15. This year, there are 15 women over 30 in the top 100. In 2000, there were two such women.
15. 今年世界前百中有15位超過30歲，在2000年只有兩位。
16. This one’s insane: In 2012 — just three years ago — there were three women over 32 in the top 100. This year there are eight.
16. 這項數據神扯：在2012年─僅僅3年前，世界前百只有3位超過32歲，今年有8位。
17. Five of the seven oldest women to win their first Grand Slam have won it in the past decade. Of the 19 youngest women to win their first Slam, only one (Ana Ivanovic at age 20) has done that in the past 10 years.
17. 史上首奪GS最年長的7個球員中有5位是發生在這10年，史上最年輕首奪GS的19位球員中只有1位(Ivanovic,20)發生在這10年。
Okay, so now that we’ve established the old is the new young, what is it? What’s making tennis players get better later and stay better when players from a decade ago were already retired?
It’s a question with a number of answers, all that probably contribute in one way or another. Could it be the combination of added power in the sport (the serve-and-volley is mostly dead), aided by racquet and string technology? Do training methods and diet help keep the top players healthier and in better shape? Has recovery — a key component when trying to win a match a day or seven matches in two weeks — become more of a science and something taken more seriously by players?
造成網球高齡化的原因有很多，包括藉助球拍和拍線科技的進步增強力量(發球上網近乎滅絕)、現今的訓練方法和飲食調配讓球員維持更健康更好的體態、以及身體的恢復期更受球員重視、方式科學化，這些都是可能的影響因素。
Whatever it is, the sport has never been older. Next month, Serena Williams will attempt to both tie Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slams while becoming the first player since Graf to win the calendar Slam. She’ll be doing that all at age 33.
By the time she was 33, Graf, who twice played Serena, had already been retired for three years.
-Source: usatoday
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