30-Love: The Roaring '30s: Careers are Growing Longer

From individuals to organizations, weekend warriors to professional players, minute observations to big-picture ideas, tennis has been top of mind across the board over the past two years.

“I feel like this is the tennis boom part two,” says Trey Waltke, general manager of the Malibu Racquet Club in southern California. “Everyone is talking tennis. Everyone is playing. People are rediscovering how great tennis is.”

Tennis shouldn’t rest on its laurels; the first boom didn’t last forever. But this is as good of an opportunity to reflect on what the sport has gotten right, during a time when so much has gone wrong.

Over the next few weeks, we'll do just that, with a series of stories—30-Love—that highlights 30 things worth celebrating about the New American Tennis Boom. Look for past articles on the left side of each page.—Ed McGrogan

WATCH: Tennis Channel Live discusses Serena Williams chances of coming back from injury in time for the 2022 Australian Open.

Time was, any pro playing past age 30 was considered a miraculous case study. There was the matter of the body, accompanied by the cumulative stress from years of competition. And then, raw economics: only so many players could continue to afford life on the tour.

But that’s changed drastically in recent years. Increased prize money has given players the chance to draw on more resources—personal trainers, physiotherapists, nutritionists, to name a few. Concurrently, there have been new insights into longevity, be it innovations in fitness routines, post-match rituals and diet.

On November 8, 2010, 11 players ranked inside the WTA Top 100 were 30 and older. As of October 1, 2021, there were 23. Similar changes have happened among the men: When the ATP Top 100 was posted on December 5, 2011, only five men were at least 32 years old. The October 1, 2021 ranking list contained 23.