Ilie Nastase: 'Federer can play until he is 60'

[Gonzo_style]

Roger Federer should play until he is 60 if he wants to, according to Romanian former world number one Ilie Nastase.

The Swiss 17-times grand-slam champion has slipped down to sixth in the world rankings and won only one title this year, prompting many to suggest he is a spent force at 32.

Nastase the former bad boy of tennis, believes Federer should not listen to the naysayers, however.

"I wish people wouldn't say that Roger Federer has to retire," the 67-year-old former French Open and U.S. Open champion was quoted as saying in Romanian media.

"I think he should play for as long as he wants.

"I don't agree with those people who say that you should retire when you're past your absolute best or prime.

"No, Federer doesn't have to prove anything, he can play to 60 if he wants to."

Federer, who has spent a record 302 weeks as world number one during his illustrious career, is still one of the biggest draws in tennis, according to Nastase, even if he has fallen behind players such as Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

"If Federer wants to carry on playing, no-one is going to say: 'No, we don't want Federer to play'.

"He is going to retire when he feels like it. I don't think that he has to retire just because he is no longer the world number one. That happens to everybody, as you can't stay as the world number one forever. He retires whenever."

Nastase himself retired from the Tour at the age of 39 but continued playing invitational seniors events into his 60s.

 

[chandu612]

Roger Federer should play until he is 60 if he wants to, according to Romanian former world number one Ilie Nastase.

The Swiss 17-times grand-slam champion has slipped down to sixth in the world rankings and won only one title this year, prompting many to suggest he is a spent force at 32.

Nastase the former bad boy of tennis, believes Federer should not listen to the naysayers, however.

"I wish people wouldn't say that Roger Federer has to retire," the 67-year-old former French Open and U.S. Open champion was quoted as saying in Romanian media.

"I think he should play for as long as he wants.

"I don't agree with those people who say that you should retire when you're past your absolute best or prime.

"No, Federer doesn't have to prove anything, he can play to 60 if he wants to."

Federer, who has spent a record 302 weeks as world number one during his illustrious career, is still one of the biggest draws in tennis, according to Nastase, even if he has fallen behind players such as Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

"If Federer wants to carry on playing, no-one is going to say: 'No, we don't want Federer to play'.

"He is going to retire when he feels like it. I don't think that he has to retire just because he is no longer the world number one. That happens to everybody, as you can't stay as the world number one forever. He retires whenever."

Nastase himself retired from the Tour at the age of 39 but continued playing invitational seniors events into his 60s.

I agree..I would love to see Federer tank for atleast 2 more years and get the stats down to where he really deserves.

 

[Forehand Of Doom]

He can play the Decrepits Tour.

 

[tennisaddict]

I agree..I would love to see Federer tank for atleast 2 more years and get the stats down to where he really deserves.

Common man, try harder. You can do better.

 

[Forehand Of Doom]

Common man, try harder. You can do better.

Chandu actually nailed that one.

 

[90's Clay]

Thats what the country club is for.

 

[tennisaddict]

Chandu actually nailed that one.

it sounded like a desperate cry...

 

[RF20Lennon]

Agree with Natase! Federer should play for as long as he likes but not overdo it.

 

[Death Master]

I was thinking he could play until he is 90.

 

[Bartelby]

I can't see why he shouldn't go on until he perhaps can no longer reach quarter finals, but 40 rather than 60 would be the upper limit with mid thirties more realistic.

 

[Deleted member 307496]

Federer can still make the semifinal berth in slams judging from his Australian Open appearance this year and should only retire when he feels he doesn't love the game as much or when he has declined so much he can't make it past the first or second round in slams.

 

[THE FIGHTER]

I was thinking he could play until he is 90.

he should play until he's 98. Granted he'll probably be better when he's 90.


...some people will still say he will play better at 85 than he will at 90 and 98. delusions

 

[chjtennis]

In Champions Tour, yes.

 

[Chico]

Silly statement from Nastase. Anyone can play until they are 60. The question is how successful they would be.

 

[Sid_Vicious]

Silly statement from Nastase. Anyone can play until they are 60. The question is how successful they would be.

Can they? I would think that even a guy in his mid 40s and early 50s would breakdown completely after playing a few matches back to back at the ATP level.

 

[tennisaddict]

It is just figure of speech, leave the old guy alone.

Fed is anyways close to age 60 in terms of matches played. He has won as many matches as what Sampras played in his 13 year career.

 

[Sentinel]

It is just figure of speech, leave the old guy alone.

.

Precisely.

However, if OP had titled this thread : "Nastase: Fed should play as long as he wants" which is what he basically said, there would have been no point making the thread.

I am wondering why someone would pull up one misleading line from an interview and create a thread.

 

[Federer20042006]

60-year-old Federer may be about half a step slower than he was in his prime, but his backhand has improved. He never had to deal with TennisBot 4.873 in 2004-2007, aka the weakest era in tennis history.

 

[borg number one]

Nastase is right. He's a funny guy and of course 60 is way too much to expect, but 35-40 is actually doable, but extremely difficult. Roger Federer should play as long as he wants to and just because he isn't #1 anymore and perhaps he won't win any more majors, he has every right to keep playing until he wants to hang it up. It'll depend how long Federer really wants to keep pushing himself.

 

[FreeBird]

Natase confused tennis with f******.
Is the number '2500' correct? :shock:
Natase himself says that it was around 800-900.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Fun article on Nastase:

So, General Nastase, how did your wife feel when you told her she was lover No. 2,501? After wowing Wimbledon in Romanian army uniform, Ilie Nastase holds court

By Jane Fryer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...urt-proves-outrageous-ever.html#ixzz36euWpHqQ

 

[Sentinel]

^ Very interesting article, thx Marius.

 

[stringertom]

Fun article on Nastase:

So, General Nastase, how did your wife feel when you told her she was lover No. 2,501? After wowing Wimbledon in Romanian army uniform, Ilie Nastase holds court

By Jane Fryer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...urt-proves-outrageous-ever.html#ixzz36euWpHqQ

Awesome read from my favorite Tomcat of the 70's! Hmmm...NYC and the late 70's/early 80's and 2,500 tick marks...let me go back thru my little black book!

 

[NotSoSuper]

Wonderful read. Nastase has some great humor I find it pretty awful that the All England Club wont give him membership... He's a legend after all... :shock:

 

[stringertom]

Wonderful read. Nastase has some great humor I find it pretty awful that the All England Club wont give him membership... He's a legend after all... :shock:

He helped start a legend, too...the '76 Wimby final vs Borg was a total surprise how one-sided a whipping he received.