Dust off your racket – experience, maturity and drive are giving you an advantage.

Father Time used to be the most feared adversary on the men’s tennis tour, as well as among hackers at your local club. But no more. It turns out that neither hitting 30 nor parenthood are the vandals of tennis ambition they once were.

For the first time in history, all of the top five ranked male players – in order, Sir Andy Murray, Messrs Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – are aged 30 or above. What is more, most people’s favourite for this summer’s Wimbledon title is the oldest of that quintet, Mr Federer, a father of four who will be 36 in August. Meanwhile, the idea of a teenager winning the tournament is absurd (the disappearance from view of the tennis youth is somehow reinforced by this summer’s court judgement that the ultimate Wimbledon prodigy, Mr Boris Becker, who won the title aged 17, is bankrupt).

As four of the five big beasts of men’s tennis are fathers – Mr Nadal is the only non-breeder among them – you can say with something approaching certainty that this summer’s Wimbledon champion will be a thirtysomething dad. What more encouragement should you need when digging out your own racket?

No longer can tennis folk, whether at the All England Club or at the park courts, speak about anyone being “the wrong side of 30” – not after the revival of the tennis greybeards (figuratively speaking). At the time, people thought of the conclusion of January’s Australian Open as the Retro Final – with Mr Federer defeating Mr Nadal to win his 18th major and his first Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2012 – but that tournament was hardly a one-off. Mr Federer also took a couple of hard-court titles in California and Florida, as well as a Wimbledon warm-up event on the lawns of Germany. Mr Nadal was the dominant figure of the clay-court swing, culminating in a record 10th Roland-Garros title (though the 31-year-old was younger than his opponent in the final, the 32-year-old Mr Wawrinka).

Clearly, sports science has lengthened the careers of the older men, with not a dad-bod among them. But there’s something else at play here, and that’s knowing your limitations. Mr Federer’s Australian Open triumph came at his first tournament for six months – he’d been resting his knee, which he damaged while running a bath for his children. He hasn’t overplayed this year, and he skipped the entire clay-court season; that only leaves him fresher for Wimbledon, where he will be chasing a record eighth title.

In your thirties, what more can you learn about tennis? A lot, it turns out, with the 30-year-old Mr Djokovic, who ditched Mr Becker as his coach during the off-season, recently turning to Mr Andre Agassi for guidance. Mr Agassi was another who excelled in his thirties – the Las Vegan scored a couple of Australian Open titles after that milestone birthday. All of the top five are driven by a constant desire for self-improvement.

Underpinning all this, though, is an enduring love for the game. Not that it always looks as though the 30-year-old Sir Andy, for one, is enjoying himself on the tennis court (never before has this sport had a potty-mouthed knight of the realm).

Green, purple and white are the Wimbledon colours. This summer, though, there’s perhaps a slight tinge of grey.

**Mark Hodgkinson is the author of Fedegraphica: A Graphic Biography of the Genius of Roger Federer (Aurum). **

Your greatest asset when playing a younger opponent should be your experience, and the sense of calm you bring to the court. By now, you should realise that you play your best tennis when you’re in control of your emotions. As Mr Stefan Edberg, a former world number one and Mr Roger Federer’s ex-coach, told me, “Look at Roger – he used to be more emotional on court and he taught himself to be calmer. As you get older, you realise how important the mind is.”

Just a small adjustment to your racket can give you some easy power, so you won’t be trying too hard with your shots. But don’t drop the tension by too much, as you will lose control over the ball.

You won’t be able to win everything. Learn from Mr Federer, who missed this year’s clay-court swing to prime his body (and mind) for grass, as he knew he had a far higher chance of winning Wimbledon than Roland-Garros. And if you pick up an injury along the way, don’t try to play through it, as you might have done in the past. There’s absolutely no shame in taking an intelligent approach to your tennis.