With his victory last Friday against the German Alexander Zverev and its consequent pass to the final, Rafael Nadal can become the winner this Sunday oldest in the history of Roland Garros, with 36 years and two days. In this way he would break a record of 50 years, when the Catalan Andrés Gimeno played and won the final in Paris with 34 years and 306 days. The oldest to play a final is the American Bill Tilden, who lost it in 1930 at the age of 37. With his uninterrupted 17-year career in the great land, the Mallorcan is pulverizing all the records that have been and will be. Back in 2005, at the age of 19 years and three days, he became the fifth youngest player to win Roland Garros, after Michael Chang (17 years and 3 months in 1989), Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg and Ken Rosewall.
In the global Big Four, the oldest in history to play a final is still in first place Rosewall, who in 1973 stood in the decisive match at Wimbledon and the US Open, both lost, at the age of 38. At 37 years, two months and one day, he won the Australian Open for the fourth time. He won 19 years after taking his first title. In case of winning this Sunday, Nadal would prevail 17 years after he did it for the first time at Roland Garros. Second on the all-time list is Roger Federer, who won the 2018 Wimbledon final at the age of 36 years and ten months. Nadal has been placed in fourth place.
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Another of the greats in the history of tennis and possibly the most emblematic of the modern era is Roger Federer. Two months after his 41st birthday and semi-retired from the competition due to injuries, the Swiss maestro has achieved important titles with more than thirty years of age. Since he turned 35 in 2016, Federer has captured three Grand Slam titles, bringing his total to 20.. It seems difficult that he can get any more due to his long inactivity and his wide repertoire of injuries that have forced him to go through the operating room more than once.
Despite Nadal’s uncertain future due to his injury to the scaphoid in his left foot, a chronic injury that has dragged on since the beginning of his career and known as Müller-Weiss Syndrome, his presence for the fourteenth time in the Roland Garros final means that he will not discard him for the next year if his health respects him. Anyway, and whatever happens in the final this Sunday, Nadal is already the oldest player in history to play in the final of the tournament, another record, and there are quite a few, in his brilliant record.