Photo: Like tears in rain via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Novak Djokovic has won his 101st career title at 38, beating Lorenzo Musetti 4-6 6-3 7-5 in the final of the first Hellenic Championship in Athens on Saturday. The win makes him the oldest champion on the ATP Tour, Reuters reports.
It was a marathon, one minute short of three hours. Djokovic dropped the first set, came back to level, and was broken while serving for the title at 5-4 in the decider, before breaking Musetti again and serving it out. Tennis Majors notes he is the oldest tour-level winner since the ATP Tour began in 1990. Ken Rosewall won a title at 43 back in 1977.
The title is also his 72nd on hard courts, a men's record that moves him past Roger Federer. Djokovic was exhausted at the end, then ripped his shirt in celebration. He said:
Incredible battle. It's just, I don't know, three hours ... a gruelling match physically, super demanding. Lorenzo played really well. It could have been anybody's game, anybody's match. So congrats to him for an amazing performance and I'm just very proud of myself to get through this one.
Djokovic has eaten a mainly plant-based diet for years, and he has said he eats a little fish now and then, as his Wikipedia entry notes. He has told reporters it goes beyond sport: "It's more than a performance reason for me, it's a lifestyle, it's something I'm really proud of," he said at the 2020 Australian Open, VegNews reported. He was an executive producer of The Game Changers.
In May he beat Hubert Hurkacz in Geneva for his 100th title, and in January he played a record 430th Grand Slam match. Last summer he won Olympic gold at 37, a year after winning his 24th Grand Slam at 36.
Age is just a number when you're powered by plants.