Last night saw Roger Federer entering his first Grand Slam final since the 2015 US Open and his first Australian Open final in seven years after defeating Stan Wawrinka in an epic five-setter semi-final which lasted three hours and four minutes. In the final, Federer will play his longtime rival Rafael Nadal.Federer’s victory over Stan Wawrinka made him the oldest Grand Slam finalist since the legendary Ken Rosewall in the 1974 US Open at 35 years and 171 days. However, Federer and Rosewall haven’t been the only players to have reached a Grand Slam final in their late 30s and this has been written to point out five oldest Grand Slam finalists of the Open Era.
#5. Andres Gimeno (1972 French Open)- 34 years and 313 daysAndres Gimeno was one of Spain’s finest players during the 1960s and mid-70s but he could not display his full potential at the Grand Slam level due to the fact that professional players could not participate in Grand Slam tournaments. He did not play much during the Open Era as he was already in his 30s.However, he did win a Grand Slam in the Open Era at the 1972 French Open. Gimeno was the sixth seed and had a good start to the tournament, winning his second and third round matches in straight sets before being pushed to five sets in his fourth round match against Clark Gaebner. In the quarter-finals, he defeated third seed Stan Smith in four sets before surviving a scare from 10th seeded Soviet Alex Metreveli in the semi-finals.He defeated ninth seeded Frenchman Patrick Proisy in the final to win his first and only Grand Slam. At 34 years and 313 days, Gimeno was the third oldest Grand Slam finalist at that time, after Ken Rosewall and Mal Anderson.
#4. Andre Agassi (2005 US Open)- 35 years and 135 days
During 2005, Andre Agassi was way past his prime but still had some juice left in him. He reached the quarter-finals of the Australian open but had a disappointing outing at the French Open where he was eliminated in the first round after losing to Jarkko Nieminen. He pulled out of Wimbledon owing to injury.At the US Open, Agassi was seeded 7th and won his opening two matches in straight sets before defeating Tomas Berdych and Xavier Malisse in four and five sets respectively to reach the quarter-finals where he came from two sets down to beat compatriot James Blake. In the semis, he defeated another compatriot in Robby Ginepri to set up a clash against Roger Federer in his first Grand Slam final since the Australian Open in 2003. Agassi lost the match in four sets in what would be his last Grand Slam final.
#3. Roger Federer (2017 Australian Open)- 35 years and 171 days
Federer did not have a very memorable 2016 ATP World Tour as most of it was hampered by injuries which prevented the 17-time Grand Slam champion from performing at his very best. After his Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Milos Raonic, Federer opted to pull out of the remainder of the season to recover from his injuries. As a result, his ranking dropped from 3rd to 16th.Federer returned to action during the Hopman Cup this year where he had a decent showing but could not help Switzerland to the final as they ended second in their group. In the Australian Open, Federer was seeded 17th and did not have a very good start to the tournament as it took him four sets to win his first round match against former Roland Garros semi-finalist and Top 10 player Jurgen Melzer. This was followed by two successive straight set wins over Noah Rubin and Tomas Berdych before overcoming 5th seed Kei Nishikori in a tight five-setter.In the quarter-finals, Federer beat Mischa Zverev in straight sets before overcoming Stan Wawrinka in an epic five-set semi-final to reach his 27th Grand Slam final and his first in the Australian Open since 2010. Not only did he reach the final, he won it by defeating his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal in an epic five setter 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. This win gave Roger Federer his 18th major title and 5th Australian Open.
#2. Mal Anderson (1972 Australian Open)- 36 years and 306 days
Mal Anderson hasn’t been one of Australia’s absolute best tennis players during Australia’s golden age of tennis during the 1950s and 1960s especially with the presence of the likes of Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, and John Newcombe. However, he did win a Grand Slam at the 1957 US Open and reached two Grand Slam finals during his 19-year long professional career.During the 1972 Australian Open, Anderson was already in his late 30s but still had some tennis left in him. He reached the quarter-finals with ease and scripted one of the upsets of the tournament by defeating compatriot and top seed John Newcombe in an epic five-setter. In the semi-finals, he defeated fourth seed Alex Metreveli to set up a final clash with second seeded Ken Rosewall. Anderson eventually lost the match in straight sets and he would never reach a Grand Slam final again.
#1. Ken Rosewall (1974 US Open) - 39 years and 310 days
Ken Rosewall is one of the greatest players to have ever played tennis and he was in brilliant form even during his 30s and 40s. He won eight Grand Slam titles throughout his career and has held numerous all-time and Open Era records. One such record is being the oldest Grand Slam finalist in the history of tennis.This record first came at the 1972 Australian Open and he broke this record twice, once at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships and again a few months later, at the 1974 US Open. At the 1974 US Open, Rosewall was the fifth seed and reached the quarter-finals after two straight set and two four set victories.In the quarter-finals, he came back from a set down to defeat Vijay Amritraj following which he beat compatriot and second seed John Newcombe in similar fashion to set up a final clash with top seed Jimmy Connors. However, the match was extremely one-sided with Rosewall winning only two games throughout the entirety of the match as Connors beat him in straight sets to claim his maiden US Open title and third Grand Slam title.
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