It's not that I'm a nostalgic type, but the resurgence of 30-or-about, written off by everyone, players this Wimbledon, is both awesome and heartwarming. And sometimes, freaky.

First, there is "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, 30. He's in the quarters having defeated two top-10 players, Verdasco and Tsonga, and holding this Wimbledon's ace record. It's probably not correct to call Ivo's run a "resurgence" since he's never been past 3 rd in any slam, ever. But it seems to fit with the theme of this tournament. At the picture above is his soon-to-be-legendary celebratory dance. It's ... unique to put it politely.

Those willing to see it in full, jump to about 3.50 min of this video:
Then, there's Tommy Haas, 31. The German is one of the unluckiest players, injury-wise, without doubt. When he appeared in the quarterfinal of RG this year (and had the Fed on the ropes for almost 3 sets, before choking), many thought (me included) that it was a fluke. Then he won Halle, beating Tsonga, Kphlschreiber and Djokovic, and here he is, in another slam quarterfinal.



He's playing awesome, too. Serving and attacking off every ball - the purest serve-n-volleyer of all the men left. He won the best match of the tournament so far, beating Cilic 10-8 in the fifth. Maybe, if he gets to the semis, he won't blow his chances as he did in that RG quarterfinal.... Nah, don't think so. Ajde Nole!

The best laugh of the day was, by the by, the Russian commnetators pondering in the studio how Andreev was gonna beat Haas with his variety.

Our next customer is Juan Carlos Ferrero, 29, a former #1 who won his first title in 6 years in Casablanca in April. He played a monstrous 5-setter against Gonzalez on Saturday (which I missed) and yesterday dispatched Gilles Simon in 3.



I got a double treat that way - JUanqui, whom I like, is in, and Simon, whom I loathe, is out. Yippee!

And of course, there's Rusty, 28, who broke out ye olde lawn-mower fistpump after coming from 2 sets down to beat Radek Stepanek. That match had everything: crazyness, rain delays, medical timeouts, histrionics and in the end, this:



I'd include A-Rod in that lineup too, but unlike all the abovementioned gentlemen, he didn't really go anywhere all those years. His longevity at the top is something to be proud of (only Fed is better than him in this regard), and in unlikely event that he wins Wimbledon, he'' reclaim #5 spot from Del Potro.

So, after all the talk about the new wave, of the 8 Wimbly quarteerfinalists only two are younger than 27 - Nole and the Tooth (and Nole had a really, REALLY soft draw). If Nadal was there, he'd probably be the 3rd. Grass is not merciful to the new generation.