27 January

The prissiness of tennis as a sport gives it a real dilemma now. Djokovic will end up easily the greatest male player of all time, in terms of results on court. Federer is retired, Nadal’s body is giving way. There’s nothing to stop him racking up slam after slam for several years now. But he’s not liked, and in tennis players have be a certain type to be liked - polite, well behaved etc. It’s mostly a rich person’s sport, only they can afford courts. They don’t approve of unruly behaviour. On the women’s side, nothing anybody says can change the fact that Margaret Court’s record is even more extraordinary than Djokovic’s. So the two greatest players of all time, on results, by a country mile (assuming Djokovic does carry on playing), are both players much of the sport and public hate.