Artin Elmayan has to play with the 85-year-olds because there is none at his age.
100 years old and not a bit tired. Artin Elmayan is probably the oldest tennis player in the world. Elmayan is the oldest registered tennis player in Argentina, aged 100 years. The Armenian-born has a problem. His age group does not exist, so he has to play with the over-85s.
“There’s no one my age here. I have to play against the 85-year-old jumpers,”explains Elmayan. 39 players are in the 85 plus class,”I’m keeping up. I finished second twice last year,”says Elmayan about the tournaments in the Ü85 category.
Elmayan is on the pitch at least three times a week:”Food is the most important thing, and then comes sports. He’s helping me stay in shape. If I don’t play for two months, I’ll get a belly,”the Argentinean jokes. It was only at the age of 39 that Elmayan held a tennis racket in his hand for the first time.
He taught himself to play tennis. As long as my body allows it and my feet still carry me, I won’t sit still,”he says, emphasizing:” I don’t know if I’m a good example, but I appeal to all people to do sports. You can still play tennis at my age, if I’d listened to my doctor, I’d have to stop.”