Tennisers of the World, Unite! The topspin blog

Watching the latest brouhahas percolating on the men's tour, the open disdain Murray showed for Del Potro before their match, the mocking of Djokovic by Roddick, I wondered where this has been for the last few years. It came to me that we have reached the end of Pax Roger, and there is chaos and violence in the pack as a new ordering takes place. Think of how genteel a place the tour has been these past few years, then think about the men's behaviour back in the most recent "wild west" days. In the twilight of the Sampras Era, we had a gang of 1st-Seeds-In-Waiting: Roddick, Hewitt, Safin, Ferrero. All had some snarl and arrogance to them. Then Rog came and quieted everyone down. It's one thing to strut and crow when you have a legitimate claim, or hope, for the throne. It's another thing when you have an acknowledged master- and Federer certainly was master to Roddick and Hewitt, embarrassing them on big occasions. Then Rafa came along, and for the past three years, the men have hardly had any hope of reaching a Grand Slam final let alone a shot at the crown. I think this order imposed a certain restraint on the masses. It would just seem silly for players to be baring their fangs at each other. Roddick developed a sense of humour, Hewitt quieted down, Safin just plain disappeared.

Now the order is shaken, and although Rafa is clearly the cream of the crop, he has not yet established his dominance in the way Roger did.

So the dogs fight amongst themselves again.