14th February:

Tennis has always been one of my favourite sports. Granted, I am much more of an armchair observer than an active participant these days, but the sport has always had a fascinating psychological element to it and I find the one-on-one, gladiatorial nature of the singles game deeply attractive.

If you are a Brit, the last 30 years have not been a particularly cheerful time on the tennis front. The last time we tasted any success, players wore flannel trousers that weighed almost as much as their racquets and smoked Senior Service at the change of ends. Only recently have the LTA (the UK governing body) woken up and smelled the hot, caffeinated beverage. And it was a double espresso rather than a pot of Earl Grey. The insistence of Andy Murray's camp that his move to Spain be funded by the LTA may have been roundly condemned at the time, but it was no more than a simple statement of the fact that he was the best chance we had of a top 10 raking player, and the UK just doesn't cut it in terms of weather, facilities or world-class coaching staff. In traditional fashion, the doubters and detractors melted away as Murray powered his way into the world top twenty.

The women's game is arguable in less healthy a state, and I would suggest that Serena Williams do the decent thing and retire immediately.

Once in a generation, a player comes along who redefines the nature of the game. Someone who raises the bar and sets new levels of performance. As Federer is doing now, so Sampras, Agassi, Borg and many others have done in the past. Navratilova, in particular, set new standards for women in terms of physical conditioning, strength and competitiveness. In the UK, women's tennis has generally consisted of some ruddy-cheeked home-counties Rebecca or Tamara huff and puff her way through the qualifying rounds only to be humiliated in the first round of Wimbledon by a 14 year-old Latvian, so there are still plenty of lessons to be learned here. Serena Williams, however, has taken things on to another level completely, and I'm not alone in thinking this may not be a good thing.

The Becker and Borg's of this world were complete players and were always a joy to watch. They had power but they also had finesse and delicacy of touch. Watching Williams play in the final of the recent Australian Open felt like watching a charging rhinoceros. Effective, clearly (her grand slam record speaks for itself and is beyond reproach) but certainly not pretty. There may be some sophistication to her game - it may not be all brute force and hard-as-nails mental posturing - but any craft and softness of hand does get lost in her apparent attempt to relieve each ball of its outer cover. Seeing Federer pick Murray apart was like watching a master swordsman or prizefighter. Watching Williams was more like observing someone metering out a good kicking in a back alley brawl. If this is the future of the game, if we can expect the next 10 years to provide an endless stream of Williams clones who look like they eat a raw baby for breakfast, then I'll opt out thanks. As the old cliché goes: it's not just what you do, its the way that you do it that counts. No surprise, then, that the notoriously fickle crowds at Roland Garros in Paris give her polite applause but little more. She may make the rest of the women's top ten look like also-rans, but as a spectacle I'd rather see a Henin vs Safina match any day of the week. And there's the rub. I'm not denying the lady the right to make a living out of what she does best, but sooner or later someone needs to take her to one side and suggest that it might be time to go off and do something else. Because the public have had enough and don't actually like her very much. And the customer is always right.