Five Grand Slam Winners Older Than Roger Federer

Five Grand Slam Winners Older Than Roger Federer
10:02, 21 Jul 2017

With three Grand Slams over for the year, and the US Open not scheduled to take place until the end of August, there’s sure to be a lot of reflection over the coming weeks as the tennis world takes a little breather from the main events.

Roger Federer has claimed two of the three Slams that have been up for grabs in 2017, performing better than many would have expected him to as he rolls into the winter of his career.

In overcoming Marin Cilic in the final at Wimbledon, the Swiss maestro became the oldest player in Open Era history to win the SW19 men’s singles title at 35 years and 342 days of age. Not a bad feat for a player who was already widely considered the greatest male player of all time by many – claiming his 19th Slam crown in the process.

Federer has defied expectations of age in recent months – but he’s not the only one to have done so over the years.

Ken Rosewall

Rosewall became the Australian Open men’s singles champion at 37 years and two months of age in 1972 to make himself the oldest winner of the competition both in the Open Era and of all time.

An astonishing achievement, Rosewall overcame Malcolm Anderson 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 7-5 over 45 years ago and his terrific record has remained untouched ever since.

More impressively, his win that day has seen him remain the oldest-ever winner of any Slam in the Open Era, so it has often been a benchmark for people like Federer to aim for, as well as being a reminder that age is but a number.

Coincidentally, Rosewall is also the youngest man to ever win the Aussie Open when he accomplished it at just 18 years of age way back in 1953.

William Larned

Larned conquered the US Open men’s singles championship aged a phenomenal 38 years and eight months all the way back in 1911 – more than 106 years ago.

Beating Maurice McLoughlin in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, Larned completed a five-in-a-row victory, having claimed every title since 1908, and in the process the American notched his seventh US Open title.

The American Slam was undoubtedly the veteran’s favourite – after all, he didn’t win any of the others. The best he managed elsewhere were two quarter-final appearances at Wimbledon in 1896 and 1905.

His 1911 triumph turned out to be his final US Slam victory and cemented his status as the most prolific in the competition’s history, with the New Jersey native retiring the same year.

Andre Vacherot

Becoming the Roland Garros men’s singles champion aged 40 years and nine months in 1901, Vacherot brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘love, 40’.

His gob-smacking record as the oldest French Open winner of all time still stands to this day, and although we should all bow down to the legacy of Rafael Nadal, Vacherot’s accomplishments certainly deserve to be remembered, too, for the way they defied expectation.

Triumphing over Paul Lebreton in the all-French final, his success came during a period of the French Close Championships.

Winning four French Open singles titles, he dominated the circuit in his heyday (winning three in a row before the turn of the century) and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Frenchman to have ever picked up a racket. Amazingly, he also won two doubles titles in his career.

Arthur Gore

He might have triumphed during the amateur era, but that should take nothing away from Gore’s career which saw him scoop as many as three Grand Slam singles titles – each of them at Wimbledon.

Indeed, he became the oldest Wimbledon men’s singles champion aged 41 years and six months in 1909, so Federer has a lot to do if he is to get anywhere near Gore’s record.

Facing Major Ritchie in the final, Gore dispatched his opponent 6-8, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, coming from two sets down to achieve history.

Charlotte Cooper Sterry

Winning five singles titles at Wimbledon throughout her career, Sterry was one of the greatest players to ever play tennis – and she was a record-setting star as well.

Becoming the oldest Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion at 37 years and 282 days of age when she won out against Agnes Morton 6-4, 6-4 in 1908.

Sterry also reached the final of the Doubles in 1913 and was a double Olympic gold champion in 1900 when she emerged victorious at Paris in the singles and mixed doubles, sandwiched between her 1898 and 1901 Wimbledon triumphs.

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