New Delhi: Here we go again! Andy Murray demolishes Roger Federer in the finals of the Shanghai Masters which gives the perfect opportunity for another episode of tongue wagging.
This time it is arguably the best women's tennis player of all time, Martina Navratilova who feels the need to shoot off an opinion about Federer's 'slide'.
''As long as Nadal stays fit, Federer will never be the World No 1 again. Roger's pushing 30 while Nadal has a good five years on him.'' said Navratilova, a winner of 18 grand slam singles titles.
What a revelation! It does not require rocket science to figure out that Fedex is not getting any younger and that Nadal might be the future of men's tennis.
Also, how very convenient it was for the critics to miss out on the fact that Nadal did not even make it past the third round at Shanghai.
However, there is a larger picture which needs to be looked at i.e. the zing will be taken right out of the men's game when Federer ultimately falls by the wayside.
With all due respect to the other players on tour, the depth and variety is not what it used to be at one time.
Former great, Pete Sampras of the United States whose record Federer broke for the maximum number of slams faced mighty stiff competition throughout his illustrious career.
It was at the 1990 US Open at the tender age of 19 that Pistol Pete defeated Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi to lift his first of 14 majors.
Things did not get any easier for him from then on. There was a barrage of highly impressive players that had to be dealt with.
Sampras had to contend with classic serve and volleyers in the form of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker during the early nineties. Then there were the booming serves of Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek and Greg Rusedski which were quite a handful on the grass courts of Wimbledon where Sampras won all of seven titles.
The American also had reasonable success at the Australian and US Open but had to overcome challenges from Jim Courier, Michael Chang and long time rival Agassi who were tough to get by on hard courts.
Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov who was nicknamed 'Kalashnikov' for his powerful striking from the back of the court was always a genuine threat for Sampras on clay.
Apart from the level of competition, the contrasting styles of play made for some great viewing at that time.
Sampras was also up against contemporary players from the current generation, Russian Marat Safin and Australia's Lleyton Hewitt towards the fag end of his career.
However, it's just the sheer genius of Federer and Nadal that has taken tennis to new heights in the last five years.
It is with good reason that theirs is termed as one of the greatest sporting rivalries of all time.
The 2008 Wimbledon summit clash, won by Nadal in five epic sets lasted for 4 hours and 48 minutes, has gone into the history books as the best final ever. As if that was not enough, the two followed it up with another classic at the 2009 Australian Open final when Federer broke down after yet another five setter.
Federer and Nadal have contested on all three surfaces grass, hard and clay in their seven encounters in grand slam finals.
And they are not done yet. Had Federer converted his two match points against Novak Djokovic in the semi finals of the recently concluded US Open it would have been another final at the majors between these two greats.
One obviously expects the Swiss ace to hang up his boots before Rafa, but the longer the inevitable is delayed the better it is for the game which has been redefined by these two class acts.
The end of the Fedex-Rafa rivalry will undoubtedly leave an irreparable vacuum not just in tennis but the entire sporting fraternity.
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