In a sport where you’re considered over the hill at 26, some golden oldies took center stage down under at the 2003 Australian Open.
Forgotten are glamour girl Anna Kournikova and her buddy Martina Hingis, the spotlight belongs to their elder, Martina Navratilova. At age 46, Navratilova captured her first ever Australian Open mixed title, making her the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title.
On the men’s side, it was all Andre Agassi. At nearly 33 years old, considered ancient on the men’s tour, Agassi is getting better with age. Since turning 29 years old, the American has won five major titles, which is bad news for the young guns chasing him.
Serena and Venus Williams continue to make history and dominate the women’s tour. They have met in the final of the last four Grand Slam tournaments, with Serena taking the title from her older sister each time. The sisters also teamed up to take the doubles title, for their sixth Grand Slam doubles title together. Other than Jennifer Capriati, a Williams sister has won 8 of the last 11 Grand Slam titles.
Look for another legend to come out of retirement at the next Grand Slam tournament, the French Open. Not Martina Navratilova, she’s already out of retirement, and doing quite well on tour thank you. Not John McEnroe, he’s playing seniors. It seems as if with Agassi’s win, his wife Steffi Graf has to make good on a bet that she will play mixed doubles with him at the French. Not that they will be contenders, since neither is a doubles player, but that first-round match will be one hard ticket to get.
Recommended Reading
Agassi and Ecstasy: The Turbulent Life of Andre Agassi
You Cannot Be Serious, John McEnroe
Ladies of the Court
Until next time, have fun on the courts.
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