It has been quite a tennis year for 33-year-olds, with Serena Williams finishing No.1 and Roger Federer set to finish No.2 with an option to go one spot better depending on Novak Djokovic’s form and mood at the ATP World Tour Finals starting Sunday in London.

Perhaps a 2012 British survey got it right when it found that 33 was, on balance, the happiest age of people’s lives. And such enduring tennis excellence is very much in keeping with these sporting times. Flash back to this year’s NBA Finals, where San Antonio and its lineup full of stars in their 30s (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili) shined brighter than LeBron James, 29, and the Miami Heat.

And don’t forget all the veteran men’s players who are still in the mix with Federer, including David Ferrer, 32, and Feliciano López, 33, Spaniards who will be at the finals in London as alternates.

But Federer is no alternate, no superstar reduced to a scrappy sideshow like Lleyton Hewitt, his former rival who is also 33. After a humbling 2013, Federer put himself front and centre again in 2014, even if he could not win another Grand Slam title after losing to Djokovic in a five-set Wimbledon final.

Although Federer’s ability to produce excellent results should come as no shock in light of his prodigious talent and enthusiasm, his ability to produce excellent results week in and week out did surprise many. Challenging for a major title is one thing; challenging for the No.1 ranking quite another. “Roger was a better player in 2014 than he was in 2013 and that takes some doing at 33 years of age, so you have to tip your hat to him,” said Darren Cahill.

Cahill coached the oldest men’s player to rank No.1, Andre Agassi, who was 33 when he last held the top spot, in 2003. “There’s a lot of things Roger has done in his career where he’s been the trailblazer, a lot of records he’s set, but he’s actually treading down a path now where quite a few other players have already been,” Cahill said. “Andre was doing the same at that age. Jimmy Connors. Kenny Rosewall. You go back through the years, and you see some great players older than Roger is now performing at the top of the game. So this is a path he knows other players have followed, and he can certainly believe that he can do it as well.”

Like Agassi, Federer has a close and longstanding connection with a fitness trainer who has been essential to his staying power. For Agassi, that was Gil Reyes. For Federer, it is Pierre Paganini, who met him in 1994 and officially joined his team in 2000 with a long-term plan in mind.

“It’s an advantage to have that kind of continuity,” Paganini said in a recent interview. “You also have a lot more information to work with.”

Paul Annacone, who coached Federer from July 2010 until October last year, said Paganini’s role has been crucial. “Pierre’s just a genius at managing Roger’s schedule and understanding what Roger needs to do with his body to give him the best chance to play his best and be his healthiest and fittest at the biggest moment,” Annacone said.

Dealing with injury

Federer, like Agassi, has had recurring back problems that he has often underplayed or declined to mention. Federer, unlike Agassi, who became dependent on cortisone shots to compete, does not appear to have had the same level of pain in his 30s and certainly did not have it this year.

“In general, I think Roger has done a wonderful job of holding onto his youth,” Cahill said. “He’s a young 33-year-old, and he still moves beautifully, but he doesn’t move quite as well as he did 10 years ago. It’s not so much the straight-line speed but more coming out of the corners. When you see him play a couple of tough matches during the course of the week, where he struggles is you see that carryover effect to the later matches in the tournament or to the next week. You don’t get that at 23, 24, 25 years of age.”

Tactical clarity

But Cahill also sees an upside in the tactical clarity that the new limitations can bring to a player with as many options as Federer. “He can be a little more definitive about his game plan,” Cahill said. “And know he has to shorten points now, and know his best chances to win these matches at the top level are to play a more attacking game to keep the points shorter and to try to get to the net a little more. Whereas before I think he was sort of in no man’s land. He had so many choices that he’d go back and forth with his game plan and not be definitive about the way he was playing matches. But now in 2014, I think you see the way Roger wants to play it and the way he knows he has to play, and I think he’s executing it beautifully.”

The question is for how much longer? He is guaranteed to be the oldest man to finish a year No.2, but Rosewall, the diminutive Australian facetiously nicknamed Muscles, won multiple Grand Slam singles titles at age 33 and beyond. Those included the 1970 United States Open at 35 and the 1971 and 1972 Australian Opens at 36 and 37. “He wasn’t big, wasn’t very strong, but boy he could hit the ball hard,” Cahill said. “In terms of power for weight and height, he may be the best ball striker the game’s ever seen.”

Rosewall also reached the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 1974 at age 39, losing both quickly to Connors, who was in his early 20s and would go on to play successfully deep into his 30s, as well. Connors, Agassi and Arthur Ashe all qualified for their final year-end championships at age 35, which helps put Federer’s longevity and fine 2014 in perspective. But for now, even with four children and a record 17 major singles titles, Federer is showing no sign of losing his appetite for the touring pro’s lot in life.