Arthur Ashe Stadium is practically a geriatric ward this year.
Just look at this 2026 US Open. Two singles players around age 40 have competed on the biggest tennis court in the world: Novak Djokovic (39) and Venus Williams (46!).
Predictably, both of the former champions crashed out in the first round.
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Djoker did so in a queasily dramatic fashion — much in the same manner of his physical collapse at the Cincinnati Open two weeks earlier.
In Flushing Meadows, the nearly-over-the-hill Serb vomited multiple times last Sunday, cramped up and broke down in tears.
What fun.
I wonder what the ring-light-loving influencers proliferating like bunnies at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center made of that stomach-churning display!
And Williams, the oldest person of both the men’s and women’s tours by some distance, lost in two sets to fellow American Sofia Kenin.
Williams — the world No. 618! — hasn’t won a grand slam singles match since 2021. And still she was mystifyingly granted a wildcard into the tournament.
Can these guys please just retire?
Though, why would they? With slams routinely giving them prime stages and treating them like royalty, and lazy, stuck-in-the-past commentators gassing them up all the time, the only incentive for aging players to gracefully exit is extreme public embarrassment.
Well, if Novak and Venus stick around much longer, there will be plenty more of that.
Meanwhile, tennis keeps getting older.
Thirty used to be long in the tooth in the sport for men. Thirty-five? Rip Van Winkle. Forty? Methuselah.
The oldest grand slam winner ever remains Ken Rosewall, who was 37 when he won the 1972 Australian Open. Ya know, back when rackets were made of wood and tennis was way less physically punishing than it is today.
But over at the Grandstand court, world No. 127 Stan Wawrinka played his final slam match at age 41.
The Open gave the 2016 US champ a last-minute wildcard as a going-away present.
That’s much better than reserving a spot for a young, less-experienced American in a country that hasn’t had a male major winner since Andy Roddick 23 long years ago, right?
Humoring names of yore is how we grow the sport. Right?!
Stan lost in straight sets to 30-year-old Matteo Berrettini and got bageled in the third. Bon voyage!
I recognize that these vets are some of the greatest players of all time. Statistically, with 24 grand slam titles, Djokovic is the greatest player of all time, though I guarantee you he doesn’t have a 25th in him.
Those celebrity-packed private suites want to cheer for their fellow celebrities, Honey Deuce in hand.
These all-time greats have giant fanbases and can easily fill stadiums.
But so can younger competitors like the supremely entertaining Spanish phenom Carlos Alcaraz (23), brutal Italian No. 1 Jannik Sinner (25), and Americans Coco Gauff (22) and Frances Tiafoe (28).
And they’re actually fun to watch. You get your money’s worth. Tennis is in good hands.
Unlike in football or soccer, tennis is an individual sport, so nobody can fire you when you start to slip.
On the flip-side, also unlike football or soccer, which have a few elder statesmen to call their own, there are no teammates to make up for your obvious deficiencies.
It’s just you in all your glory. Or lack thereof.
Thus, increasingly high-paying crowds in Queens get stuck watching awkward, short and frequently depressing matches just for the quick thrill of seeing a famous face.
Plenty of other forces have been complicit in this.
When the Big Three — Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — hit their mid-30s, there was a sense they’d sailed their megayachts through the Fountain of Youth. They’d play till 50!
