How Old Are Professional Tennis Players?

There comes a time where every elite athlete must hang up their gloves, boots, clubs, racket, or whatever tool of the trade they use.

No matter how good they are, or were, father time will always come calling. Of course, this can vary wildly depending on the sport or the athlete, but the time comes, nevertheless. 

This is something I’ve been pondering a lot recently. With some of the greatest tennis players of our generation reaching the tail end of their career, I wanted to take a deeper, more analytical look into the age of professional tennis players and see what (if anything) we can find.

Let’s get to it.

It’s also worth noting that this article was written in May 2021. The ages and rankings will change as time progresses; however, I’ll try to keep this article updated as regularly as possible.

But with that said…

The average age of male tennis players in the ATP top 500 rankings is 26.9 years old.

Age of the Top 500 Ranked ATP Players

The above graph shows the age distribution of the top 500 ranked ATP players.

While it doesn’t show any correlation between age and the players’ ranking, it does offer a pretty good overview of the age of the majority of the players within the top 500 rankings.

Take-Aways

• The average age of top 500 ranked ATP players is 26.9 years old.
• Unsurprisingly, there are far more players in their twenties, than there are in their 30’s.
• 24 is the most common age with a total of 48/500 players.
• Youngest player: 18 years old.
• Oldest player: 42 years old.

Average Age of the Top 10 Ranked Professional Tennis Players

The above graph shows the age of the top 10 ranked ATP players.

Take-Aways

• The average age of a top 10 ranked ATP player is 28 years old.
• The youngest player in the top 10 is Stefanos Tsitsipas at 22 years old.
• The oldest player in the top 10 rankings is Roger Federer at 39 years old.

Interestingly, the average age of the top 10 players is 1 year older than the average of the top 500 players. This is likely due to a combination of more experience and the athletes being in their prime in terms of fitness and ability to train and perform consistently.

Average Age of the Top 11-25 Ranked Professional Tennis Players

The above graph shows the age of the top 11-25 ranked ATP players.

Take-Aways

• The average age of 11-25 ranked ATP players is 26.5
• The youngest player is number 18 ranked Jannik Sinner, who is 19 years old.
• The oldest player Stan Wawrinkam is 36 years old.

Average Age of the top 26-50 Ranked Professional Tennis Players

The above graph shows the age of the top 26-50 ranked ATP players.

Take-Aways

• The average age of 26-50 ranked ATP players is 28 years old.
• The youngest players are number 46 ranked Miomir Kecmanovic and number 48 ranked Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
• The oldest player is number 34 ranked, John Isner.

Average Age of the Top 51-75 Ranked Professional Tennis Players

The above graph shows the age of the top 51-75 ranked ATP players.

Take-Aways

• The average of 51-75 ranked ATP players is 28.1 years old.
• The youngest player is number 67 ranked Sebastian Korda, who is 20 years old.
• The oldest player is number 60 ranked Feliciano Lopez, who is 39 years old.

Average of the top 76-100 Ranked Professional Tennis Players

The above graph shows the age of the top 76-100 ranked ATP players.

Take-Aways

• The average of 51-75 ranked ATP players is 28.6 years old.
• The youngest player is number 82 ranked Lorenzo Musetti, who is 19 years old.
• The oldest players are number 80 ranked Fernando Verdasco and number 97 Andreas Seppi, who are 37 years old.

Youngest Top 500 Ranked ATP Players

1. Carlos Alcaraz, 18 years old (114^th ranked).
2. Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune, 18 years old (314^th ranked)
3. Dominic Stephan Stricker, 18 years old (421^st ranked)

Oldest Top 500 Ranked ATP Players

1. Ivo Karlovic, 42 years old (173^rd ranked)
2. Roger Federer, 39 years old (8^th ranked)
3. Feliciano Lopez, 39 years old (60^th ranked)
4. Paolo Lorenzi, 39 years old (167^th ranked)
5. Tommy Robredo, 39 years old (232^nd ranked)
6. Nicolas Mahut, 39 years old (246^th ranked)

Final Thoughts

Well, there we have it, folks. Hopefully, we’ve been able to give you some good insights into the age of professional tennis players. One thing to bear in mind is that players are tending to retire at older ages these days, especially at higher levels.

With advances in sport science and a general better understanding of maintaining an athlete’s body in peak condition, we’re likely going to see the retirement age continue to increase.

With all that said, thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ve found our article useful!