Novak Djokovic is a sporting anomoly at 37 says Richard Gasquet: "Have we ever seen that except maybe Michael Jordan?"

Former world No. 7 Richard Gasquet praised Novak Djokovic for his remarkable longevity at 36 years old and drew a parallel to basketball legend Michael Jordan. The French tennis player suffered a first-round defeat at the Open 13 Marseille against Roberto Bautista Agut with a score of 6-3, 7-5. In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Gasquet expressed his belief that his own performance level is likely to decline.

Gasquet, aged 37, is only 11 months older than Novak Djokovic and currently holds a record of 1-13 against the 24-times Grand Slam champion. The Frenchman's sole victory came during the round-robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup, an event that preceded the current ATP Finals.

With just 15 players older than Djokovic still active on the Tour, the only ones within the top 100 are former Grand Slam champions Stan Wawrinka (No. 57) and Andy Murray (No. 49), both far from their peak rankings in previous years.

Gasquet, acknowledging that his prime years are behind him, highlighted Djokovic as one of the few athletes continually elevating their game with time: "It's bound to get worse. Apart from Novak Djokovic, who is winning Grand Slams at almost 37 years old," he remarked.

"Have we ever seen that in sports, except maybe [Michael] Jordan? [Lionel] Messi plays in Miami, the others in Saudi Arabia. He [Novak] is No. 1 in the world... I can't explain to myself that a guy like that is so strong at that age,” Richard Gasquet commented.

“At 37-38 years old, normally, you're much worse than at 25. You know that. At no point did I say to myself that I would play the year I turned 38. Unimaginable," added the 24-times ATP titles champion.