A few decades ago, late 20s meant the twilight of the career was upon sports professionals. They started preparing for retirement and made plans for their lives beyond the sport. However, recent advances in medical sciences and physical fitness have helped players increase the years of their careers significantly. Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tom Brady, and LeBron James are some examples of athletes enjoying long careers. We can also see the same happening in tennis. Roger Federer and Serena Williams, retired at 41. Players in their late 30s are still competing at a top level. Novak Djokovic recently gave his thoughts on the longevity of athletes in varied sports.

Djokovic and Nadal, who are 35 and 36, are still rank in the top ten in the ATP. Even though Nadal’s career has been riddled with injuries, he comes back every time to crush the competition. While young players such as Carlos Alcaraz are putting on dominant performance, experienced players are still leading the way.

Novak Djokovic spoke about the qualities of players in their 30s

The Djoker recently interviewed with The National. In the interview, he talked about his record in Grand Slam, how he stays dedicated to the game, his Australian Open triumph and more. He also discussed players crossing the preconceived notion of retirement in the 30s.

When talking about the mentality of top players, Djokovic also discussed the age of the players who are at the top. He feels as though the limitation has changed. With Nadal turning 37 this year, Djokovic turning 36, LeBron James almost turning 40 and Federer retiring at 41 while still playing at a high level, the age tradition had changed.

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“And nowadays, Nadal this year he’s 37, I’m 36, LeBron James is close to 40, Federer was 40 and was still playing at the highest level, Tom Brady, Serena, Ronaldo, Messi, it’s unbelievable.”

In the same interview, Djokovic listed another reason as to why a longer career is better. As per the Serb, players having a prolonged career will serve as an inspiration to younger players. Young professionals won’t have to worry about counting down the years or feel like they have put a limit on their time.

“It’s great because it kind of also gives inspiration to young athletes to know that they can extend their career, that they don’t put the limit mentally just because someone else imposes that limit on them, that after 30 you’re more or less done, so it’s time to think about your end. There is no end really, in your mind.”

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Djokovic has crossed the record of Nadal in overall titles list and still has a few years left in his career. He will be aiming to break not only his record, but the records of Serena Williams and Margaret Court as well.