‘Tennis repairs you': the 101-year-old fuelled by iced coffee who still plays competitively

Henry Young doesn't mind being asked about his secret to a long, active life – it comes with the territory when you're a 101-year-old competitive tennis player. It has its perks, like getting to play on centre court during the Australian Open, but what he does mind is that it's considered so remarkable that he is playing at all. That he is seen as extraordinary and there must be some magic trick that keeps him going.
'What bugs me is that people give up their tennis when they have some kind of injury,' Young says. 'I'm a monument to the medical profession because I've had so many injuries and I just persevere, and then tennis repairs you.'
Just as a sore calf doesn't have to mean the end of the road for a runner, or a pulled hamstring signal the end of a football career, Young wishes the prospect of injury didn't deter older people from playing sport. But staring down the barrel of a long rehabilitation process can be daunting, and returning to sport and exercise after injury undeniably gets harder as you age, so an ever-increasing amount of determination is required each time. This is not something Young is lacking.
'Two new knees, a new hip, pacemaker for my heart, hearing aids in one ear and a cochlear implant in the other and two broken noses,' he says. 'You just can't keep a good man down.' Young's doggedness is key to playing for so long – he just can't stop, it's not in his nature.
Tennis has featured in Young's life since school, along with rugby and then squash during his time as a fighter pilot in the New Zealand navy. But when he returned to work on the land in South Australia after the second world war, he could only pick up a racket a few times a year. It wasn't until Young was 70 and retired that tennis became such a big part of his life. Winding around War Memorial Drive in Adelaide 30 years ago, he passed the tennis club with a billboard out front saying 'good tennis players wanted' and thought he'd have a crack.
'They said, 'you have to get tennis lessons unless you belong to a tennis club,' and I didn't want to take lessons,' Young says. So he made up a club. 'I said that I belonged to the Inglewood Tennis Club. [Inglewood] was the name of a neighbouring property where we used to play tennis. And they took it.' As Young had suspected, he played well enough to satisfy the recruiters at Memorial Drive so no lessons were required. 'That's when it started,' he says. 'And I'm competitive so I started really playing, and making it my sport, which it still is.'
Now a centenarian with three decades of competitive tennis under his belt, Young is preparing for the ITF Masters Championships in Croatia in October. He plays three to four times a week, often with his friend and sometimes doubles partner Gerry Prideaux, and spends a little time in the gym at his retirement complex. That training regime is about to diversify further. 'I've bought myself a rowing machine,' Young says. 'I've set it up next to the window … so every morning I'm going to do 20 minutes rowing in the Adelaide hills.'
Young made history in 2023 as the first 100-year-old to play in the World Masters Individual Championships. 'It's only recently that they've started to make it a bit easier for me,' he says. 'I used to have to play down in the 80-year-olds [age category]. But then they made it 85, now they've got the 90s, and some of the countries are even going to 95.' He's sure it won't be long before there are enough players over 100 to have their own age group too. 'I'm doing my little bit to persuade people to keep on trying, because we're all living longer these days.'
Sign up to Australia Sport
Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk
after newsletter promotion
Young is happy to share his advice for staying healthy as you age and swears by 'wholesome thoughts' and a balanced diet with a twist. 'I watch my diet, and part of my diet is that I drink three two-litre [cartons] of Farmers Union iced coffee every week,' he says. His attachment to iced coffee is so strong that he's always itching to get back home to it when he travels interstate. The coffee is the outlier in an otherwise fairly standard menu. 'I like everything, I like my meat and my fish and vegetables … I make sure that I get that full variety,' he says. 'I snack on nuts during the day and I've got my iced coffee, and that really keeps me fit.'
However, Young's number one tip for people of any age is no secret at all. 'I would encourage everybody to play tennis,' he says, claiming the medical profession supports his view that it's the best ball sport for you. 'In tennis, win or lose, you gain something. It's very nice to be able to say to the man at the other end of the tennis court, 'it was a good win, but you had to work for it,' and you both laugh. They're the ones that you remember, the games that you really had to fight for, and that's competition … it's good for you.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Mail​

42 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

AFL fans react to Geelong's t-shirt stunt ahead of Patrick Dangerfield's 350th career game - as Brisbane Lions flex their premiership muscles

Geelong's bold decision to fill GMHBA Stadium with a sea of white t-shirts ahead of their clash with Brisbane on Friday night backfired after the Lions cruised to a 41-point victory. The away side didn't read the script, kicking four early goals to assume control in what was a statement performance. The triumph also ended the club's long losing run in Geelong. Promoted pre-game as 'a sight to behold' and a 'slice of history' on the Geelong website, the Cats decked out every seat at the venue with white t-shirts. It is a move often seen in US sports, with the Indiana Pacers and OKC Thunder doing so in the NBA Finals. On a night when the club was also celebrating captain Patrick Dangerfield's milestone 350th AFL appearance, the commentators backed the concept. 'They have kitted out the Cattery with the white T-shirts on every seat, inspiration drawn from the NBA and college football in the US,' Gerard Whateley said on Fox Footy. 'It is quite the sight as the local heroes emerge onto the field. 'Patrick Dangerfield said one of his favourite parts of this would be (his children) Winnie, 'Flip' (Felicity) and George joining him to run through the banner. 'All the kids are fully aware of what they're part of, his place in Geelong folklore, which grows tonight, game (what is) a special night.' But numerous footy fans weren't on the same page, taking to X to question the move from the Cats. 'Lol white out is a roaring success so far,' one posted before halftime as Brisbane assumed control. 'I don't think the white out worked,' said another. 'White out turning into a whitewash,' a third weighed in with.

Daily Mail​

an hour ago

• Daily Mail​

'Gutted' West Coast Eagles stalwart Jeremy McGovern gets shocking news that has left fans reeling

A 'gutted' Jeremy McGovern will leave the AFL as a West Coast great after being forced into premature retirement through concussion. McGovern announced his 197-game career was over on Friday, with the decision made for the key defender by the AFL's concussion panel. The 2018 premiership player suffered a head knock in the Eagles' round-eight fixture against Melbourne and was referred to the panel after failing to recover following the mandatory 12-day period. Lauded as the intercept king, the 33-year-old etched himself into West Coast history with his famous mark in their 2018 grand final win. Overcoming internal bleeding in the lead-up to the eventual five-point victory, McGovern's quality shone through when he ditched his man - Collingwood star Jordan De Goey - to intercept Adam Treloar's kick inside-50. The move kickstarted the chain that ended in Dom Sheed's match-winning goal. The Eagles star helped lead the side to the 2018 grand final and AFL premiership before the club hit dark days He finished that season with 77 intercept marks, the most in 2018. 'It's been an absolute honour to pull on the West Coast jumper for the past 15 years and it's something that I will forever be grateful for,' McGovern said in a club statement. 'As much as this isn't the way I would have liked to go out, I respect the decision. 'I'm gutted I don't get to pull the jumper on and run out one more time, but sometimes this is the way the game goes.' McGovern arrived at the Eagles from North Albany with pick No.44 in the 2010 rookie draft. But it wasn't until mid-way through the 2014 season, at age 22, that McGovern earned his AFL debut under former coach Adam Simpson. The lynchpin of the Eagles defence, McGovern established himself in 2015 and earned four-straight All-Australian nods from 2016 to 2019. He ends his career as the club's reigning John Worsfold medallist and as a five-time All-Australian, having collected another blazer in 2024. McGovern and former coach Adam Simpson share a moment in the club's match against Collingwood in 2022 'To the club, I can't explain how much you have given me over my time here, and I can't thank you enough for drafting a fat kid from Albany and giving him a crack,' McGovern said. 'I've always loved the game and winning a premiership is every kid's dream, but the lifelong friendships and relationships you build through footy mean more to me than anything. 'I will forever be indebted to West Coast, and I will always bleed blue and gold.' McGovern's exit follows that of former West Coast teammate Luke Edwards, who stepped away from the game last October to focus on his recovery from multiple concussions. Collingwood duo Nathan Murphy and Josh Carmichael, Melbourne premiership player Angus Brayshaw and Western Bulldogs draftee Aiden O'Driscoll also had their careers cut short in 2024 because of concussion.

Daily Mail​

2 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

Maro Itoje bemoans 'tippy-tappy' rugby as British & Irish Lions captain admits they only showed 'glimmers' of quality against injury-hit Argentina during shock defeat

British & Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje said his team would have to learn quickly after they played 'tippy-tappy' rugby and their 2025 tour began with a shock defeat by Argentina in Dublin. Ahead of the hotly-anticipated visit to Australia, Andy Farrell's side were beaten 28-24 at the Aviva Stadium by a Pumas side missing several key players. It all amounted to a false start for the Lions. Itoje vowed he and his players would have to move on from the mistakes they made ahead of travelling to the southern hemisphere on Saturday. 'At times we were playing tippy-tappy and that's not what we want to be. We want to be an aggressive team,' Itoje said. 'We were nowhere near as accurate or as consistent as we wanted to be. We only showed glimmers of what we can do. 'We didn't consistently apply pressure. We let them off and they caught us slipping at times. But we are building. We would have liked to have been kicking off right from the off. 'It wasn't quite that, but we will live, learn and get better. Argentina showed us where we are lacking. I am happy we had a hard-fought game. This is only match one. 'We showed signs of what this team can be.' The Lions scored through Bundee Aki, a penalty try and Tadhg Beirne. And while their attack showed signs of promise and their scrum was dominant, Farrell's players paid the price for too many errors. They also struggled at the line-out. Argentina No 10 Tomas Albornoz ran the show and was player of the match for an 18-point haul. 'We made it tough. Argentina thoroughly deserved to win. They capitalised very well on quite a few errors by us. It's a big moment in Argentina history,' Lions head coach Farrell said. 'The whole story of the game is we compounded too many errors and couldn't put the pace on the game we wanted. We need to be better than that. 'It certainly looked like we were a bit disconnected at times. 'We're not sugarcoating anything. We have to be honest and say it as it is. 'Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find the solutions pretty quickly and there has to be some good that comes from this. 'The scrum was aggressive and good and had Argentina under the pump.' England prop Ellis Genge was a stand-out performer for Farrell's side. At No 10, Fin Smith was also a positive. Farrell wasn't happy with his team's use of the ball. There were a number of spilled passes at the line. However, the more time the Lions spend together, they will surely improve on this. Farrell said the Lions attack was 'clunky' and criticised his players for a lack of desire when competing for possession on the ball. He added: 'I thought we created quite a bit at times but did not finish off them off. When you try and force too many passes like that, subconsciously you lose a bit of confidence.'