Na konferencijama pred početak Vimbldona, novinari su se interesovali šta igrače misle o sve većem uticaju starijih igrača. Jasno je da je uvek zanimljivo videti mlada lica, ali sve se više priča o igračima koji su dugo na turu, a i dalje su u vrhu ili onima koji u tim nekim "kasnim teniskim godinama" dolaze do vrhunca karijere. Uzmimo za primer Frančesku Skijavone ili Kimiko Date Krum, koja sa 39 godina uspeva da igra jako solidan tenis. Ne zaboravimo i Venus Vilijams, koja je pre par dana napunila 30 godina, a tu je i Endi Rodik, koji je godinama u vrhu muškog tenisa. Evo šta njih dvoje kažu u odgovorima na pitanja koja se tiču godina:
Q. What does the age 30 milestone mean to you? What thoughts do you have on age and competing on the tour when so many players don't seem to be teenagers, they seem to be 20s approaching 30?
VENUS WILLIAMS: The whole thing is like when I look in the mirrors, as long as there aren't wrinkles and stuff, just kind of looking good. Obviously I'm playing well. So that has nothing to do with the age, I guess, so... Just hopefully not getting too much sun damage.
Q. What explanation do you have for the seeming increasing age of the top players on the women's side of the tour?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Well, I think people are just able to accept that you can play tennis a lot longer. I think before people didn't go past 27. But I think at this time, you know, it's when you really most understand the game. It's actually an advantage to be out here at this stage in the career.
Q. On the tennis front, what are your impressions about how it seems older players are doing better? It's not so much the teenagers, early 20s, who are at the top, on both the men's and women's side, the median age is increasing.
ANDY RODDICK: I just talked about this. It's cyclical. I mean, three years from now it could be different. I mean, I remember two, three years ago when obviously Rafa was still being Rafa, you know, Murray was establishing himself, and Djokovic was establishing himself, all the talk was, you know, of the young guys coming through. Now it's like pushing back.
Bottom line is, regardless of what year you were born in, if you can play, you have a place in the game. That's the way I view it. As to why, why it's changing a little bit or why the older guys are kind of reestablishing themselves in the top 20 or whatever it is, I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know.
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