Veterans vs Young Guns. From Jenny. Thanks.
Posted by tennisplanet on August 17, 2009
JENNY
Veterans vs Young Guns
Let’s call the veterans 26yrs old and over [we could make it 25 and over?] Current results and rankings speak for themselves, there will obviously be a changing of the guard, it’s happening and will happen whether we like it or not. It takes time to get accustomed to it, especially by some of us old die hards. But right now, given a choice of matches subject to streams, TV etc., who would you prefer to watch tennis terms, who rocks your boat on the courts? Forget the looks [or try to]!
Veterans:
Federer
Roddick
Nalbandian
Gonzalez
Blake
Haas
Lopez
Ferrer
Hewitt
Kiefer
Lapentti
Gicquel
Ljubicic
Ferrero
Davydenko
Acasuso
Stepanek
Plus more – please add
Young Guns
Nadal!! lol he is only 23!
Djokovic
Murray
Del Potro
Cilic
Dimitrov
Gulbis
Verdasco [he’s under 26]
Querrey
Monaco
Tsonga
Monfils
Simon
Again, please feel free to add
Tennis Planet 
M said
Where’s Marat?
Jenny said
Not deliberate, M – add him on!
Jenny said
I should have added Fabrice too, sorry about that!
M said
Oh – and Reeshard!
(Even though he *ahem* hasn’t been playing much lately.)
It’s weird, I feel like I’ve been watching him a long time too, and he and Rafa are the same age. (Although I’ve always thought Rafa a very mature 23. Boy reads Allende and quotes Ghandi, for goodness’ sake.)
Jenny, I have to give this post some thought, because I’m having a hard time breaking it down by age. I think I get overfocused on on-court strategy, and then there’s the off-court media coverage, and how much that reveals about personality.
(And, of course, the pretty. So hard to keep the mind off that.)
Jenny said
I hadn’t really forgotten Richard, I had meant to put him on, but the submit button beat me to it!
M said
Hee hee. Feli is going to get after you too, hurting his modeling and movie star cred by putting him in with the “old people”.
🙂
Sol said
Lol M. I think Verdasco took over in that department. Feli has some tough competition from Fernando.
Ricke said
Since Roger and Roddick are my favorites I will have to go with the Veterans, but there are many more young guns playing fabulous tennis. It makes me want to be around a long time to enjoy them all!!!!!!!
Sol said
Why, where are you going Ricke? 😉
Ricke said
No where I hope, but I’m not getting any younger. The mind is young, trying like hell to keep the body in good shape.
chieko said
I still prefer where my hero is. I prefer the veterans for sure.
Sol said
In the “young guns” category, I’ll add Berdych and Stan. On good days, they both have what it takes to beat the top ten, but they both need to be a little stronger mentally and be more consistent.
As for the veterans, some performances this year makes me appreciate them even more. Like Haas’ run at the FO. It’s stories like these that make me love tennis, where everything is possible on any given day. I’ll go with the veterans too.
Jenny said
Totally agreed with all the points in your comment, Sol.
In 2001/2002 Federer, Nalby, Gonzo were yesterday’s young guns, and yet here I am still glued to the screen 7 years later choosing to watch them. Okay, they don’t always play great tennis, and sometimes I think, what the heck are you doing out there, losing matches they should have won, [it’s sending poor ole Fena prematurely grey!] but they still draw me in. I’m sure many will say the same of Safin and Santoro while they’re still around.
As far as the current young guns are concerned, I do enjoy watching Nadal, I like the passion and fire he brings to the table, plus the guy has talent, I admire that he strives to improve on other surfaces, Rafa doesn’t sit on his laurels and I like that. When Richard Gasquet is playing well, I like watching him, so I really hope this recent unfortunate incident will have a positive effect when he resumes play. I do have hopes for Jeremy Chardy and Grigor Dimitrov. When Verdasco’s on fire, he glues me to the screen, so I’m hoping he can step over the barrier before he’s moved to the veterans list.
Of course I love clever tennis with finesse, but they also have to be flamethrowers, keep me awake, and take my breath away too. No disrespect, but pure ace machines with power do my head in. Maybe I expect too much!
Sol said
I have a hard time thinking of Nadal as a young gun, Jenny. Despite his young age, he’s been on top forever. Age doesn’t really matter when the player has already lived such intense years. Maybe he still has many great years ahead, but his extensive experience already makes him a “veteran” compared to the others.
I agree about Chardy. He’s really good. I remember his match at last year’s FO against Gonzo. I was stunned, there was no way to beat him. But again, mentally, not the strongest guy out there. But that’s something experience will heal.
As for Verdasco, I still continue to think he’s overrated. He doesn’t impress me, don’t know why.
Jenny said
I think Roger called him a veteran too, Sol. I agree it is hard to imagine, he really is the standalone of the young guns as far as I’m concerned, and his phenomenal results prove it. Whether his body will allow him to achieve even more success, we don’t know, but I hope so.
Bonnie said
Love the veterans, but agree that Rafa is the best of the young guns, and is really more of a “veteran” than anything.
Somebody Else said
Is the veteran Sebastien Grosjean still kicking about?
Has he been out with injury or something like that?
Somebody Else said
underwent shoulder surgery late last year.
He’s 31 years old.
chieko said
WOW!!
Jenny said
Thanks for that info, Somebody Else. He was a great grass player to watch at Wimbledon, the surgery will probably retire him.