They say that players tend to tire with age.

And that could be said of tennis veteran Roger Federer, who claimed that players need more time to rest between tennis matches after his victory against Roberto Bautista-Agut at the Miami Open.

Despite his recent form, which saw him win the Indian Wells Masters on March 19, the world number six did not have it easy against the Spaniard, having being broken for the first time in five games against Bautista-Agut. 

It was a neck-and-neck match between the two, with no one seeming to get a distinct points advantage until Bautista-Agut took the lead in the first set by 5-4. 

However, Federer bounced back to win the first set via tiebreak.

The second set was just as close as the first, with both players seizing the advantage but not really pulling away, but it was Federer who won the second set via another tiebreak for a 7-6, 7-6 victory in the two-hour game.

With a day of rest in between then and his quarter final match with Tomas Berdych, the 35-year-old has expressed opinions about the rest times for tennis players in the after-match press conference.

"I think coming out of a brutal match and then feeling fit like a fiddle in the morning, it's like when you go clubbing," expressed the world number six.

"Same thing. You know, you don't feel the same when you're older."

While not as exhausting as cycling or hockey, tennis is known for being physically gruelling nonetheless.

Matches require players to have immense aerobic endurance with an oxygen intake of roughly 58.2 ml O2/kg/min, according to theconverstion.com.

They also burn up to 14 calories per minute during a professional game, meaning that the two players theoretically burned just under 1,700 calories in those two hours.

As most players typically retire at 30, Federer will be hoping that rest times may be extended in the future, as he still has plenty of life, and talent, to make him a formidable adversary as he chases his first Miami Open title, having been runner up on four occasions.

But, don't expect him to be hitting the club anytime soon...

Federer's match against Berdych will take place today at 8:00pm GMT