Dino is still going strong!
Yes, in an otherwise young men's field. (Two other dinos made R3, but by R4, the field had got younger). The interesting thing is that there are more absolute dinosaurs in their late 30s or even early 40s (e.g. born in the second half of the 80s) winning two rounds than there are slight dinosaurs in their early 30s (e.g. born in the first half of the 90s). This year, Djokovic, Wawrinka, and Cilic all made R3, but only two born between 1989 and 1995, inclusive, and both those two were born in late 1995 (Norrie, born in August 1995, and Van de Zandschulp, born in October 1995). An absolute desert of those born between 1989 and the end of July 1995! As you would expect - given they weren't any good to begin with. Still, bizarre that Wawrinka is still out there making R3s at almost 41 while the eight-year-younger Thiem last got that far five years ago, when he was a mere 28! Wawrinka was better than Thiem to be sure, but not
that much better that you'd expect that.
On another note, while the men's field is pretty young in the later stages except for Djokovic (Zverev isn't young, but until he turns 29, he's not old), the women's field is not. 21-year-old Gauff and 18-year-old Jovic did make the QF, but both lost yesterday, so all of the final six players are 24 or older. Anisimova is the youngest, and even she is almost 24 and a half. Indeed, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that she and Swiatek will both lose tonight, in which case the semis will be Sabalenka (age 27 and eight months) v Svitolina (age 31 and four months), and Pegula (age 31 and 11 months) v Rybakina (age 26 and seven months). The bookies make Rybakina slight favorite against Swiatek and Anisimova slight favorite against Pegula, but they are both matches that could go either way.
Actually, three of the four matches today could be really good ones. Of course, Sinner will beat Shelton 6-4 6-2 6-1 and Shelton will win fewer points than that on return, but the other three matches look like they could well be exciting!
