Antwerp champion Roberto Bautista Agut represents a generation that refuses to go quietly

“I think I deserved a week like this,” Roberto Bautista Agut said after winning the title in Antwerp on Sunday, with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Jiri Lehecka in the final.

“I broke my foot last year, and I had to fight so hard this year,” said the 36-year-old Spaniard, who is in his 19th season on tour. “I went back to 120 in the world, but I was still going to practice with a smile on my face, trying to fight until the end of my career.”

On the other side of the world, in Kazakhstan, Gabriel Diallo echoed Bautista’s thoughts after his semifinal win over Francisco Cerundolo sent him into his first ATP final, at the Almaty Open.

“A lot of joy, a lot of excitement, a lot of relief as well,” said the 23-year-old Canadian, who will break into the Top 100 for the first time. “I’ve been playing some good tennis, and I’m very happy to see that the results are going my way.”

Bautista Agut and Diallo, 13 years apart in age, are at opposite ends of their careers. Together they make for a good representation of where the ATP is in terms of age in 2024. For every towering, fresh-faced, forehand-crushing kid who turns up on our TVs screens, there’s a blast from the recent past waiting there as well.

At the highest level, a youth movement led by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has toppled the Big 3 and entrenched itself at the pinnacle of the rankings. After years of 30-something domination, only Novak Djokovic remains from the old guard in the Top 10.

At the same time, that old guard hasn’t gone quietly into the night, either. Every month brings us another story of a veteran keeping the flame burning well into his 30s, or a player finally coming into his own late in his 20s.

Along with the 36-year-old Bautista Agut, this weekend we saw Grigor Dimitrov, 33, make the final in Stockholm; Stan Wawrinka, 39, beat top seed Andrey Rublev and make the semis at the same event; and Marcos Giron, 31, reach the semis in Antwerp. Marin Cilic, 36, returned from injury last month to win a title in Hangzhou. Gael Monfils, Jan-Lennard Struff, Adrian Mannarino, and David Goffin all keep plugging along, well into their 30s, and well past what would have been their sell-by dates in the past.

Watching Bautista Agut and Diallo on Sunday, you could see how the men’s game has changed in the 13 years between them. It’s most obvious in their heights: Diallo is 6-foot-8, Bautista Agut just 6-foot. The Canadian, not surprisingly, has a superior serve; he had seven aces in his final-round loss to Karen Khachanov, while Bautista had just one in his win. Diallo’s height and range naturally lead him to the net more often; he went there 20 times, compared to six for RBA.

There are clear differences from the ground as well. Bautista Agut patiently worked the points against Lehecka, and let the rallies come to him. He defended when he needed to, used his drop shot when it made sense, and tried to move his opponent corner to corner. He rarely went for broke, and played textbook percentage tennis.

Diallo also rallied form the baseline, but he took the initiative more quickly than Bautista Agut. In the modern fashion, he looked to use his forehand and his explosiveness whenever possible, and wasn’t afraid to send his backhand blazing down the line on big points. He actually played his best tennis when he was going for broke. He stunned Karen Khachanov with a series of winners to come back from 2-4 down and take the second set.

In the end, Bautista Agut’s approach earned him a win, and Diallo’s didn’t. The Canadian, who looked gassed in the third set, has played a lot of tennis recently. After making the semis at a Challenger in Hangzhou, he won five matches in Almaty; that included wins over the No. 2 seed, Alejandro Tabilo, and the No. 4 seed, Francisco Cerundolo.

Diallo is part of another ATP trend: He played college tennis, at the University of Kentucky, where he was an All-American. A former student of Felix Auger-Aliassime’s father, Sam, he’s now coached by his countryman Martin Laurendeau. He has had a strong year on the Challenger circuit, and he won five matches, including three in qualifying, the make the third round at the US Open. His height, his wiry power, and his ability to move well despite his stature, make him look like the type of player we’ll see much more of in the near future. We’ll see if his results can match his appearance.

As for Bautista Agut, his hard-earned reward has come late in the year, but it may be happening at just the right time for his country. The last time Spain won the Davis Cup, in 2021, RBA and Rafael Nadal led the way. Will he be there, on their home courts in Malaga, to help his old teammate to one last victory?