WD40 wrote:

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Bugger! I just spent three hours writing this and when submitted it disappeared!! ANY ADVICE?

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This happened to me too. 

Probably too late now, but if you're using Chrome, at least, and still have the tab open that you composed the post in, then using the back arrow will eventually take you back to the page where you had all your text, with it still intact in the text box. You can then copy it and try again. This is true even for successful posts.

Even if you've closed the tab, you might try reopening it by using 'CTRL + N' and then selecting appropriately from the 'Recently Closed' menu at bottom right. I don't think Chrome stores page images if you close the Tab, but it's worth a try. For other browsers I'm not sure about the functionality. (Checked, Firefox would do the same general thing for the first suggestion)

But, having been stung by this myself, now if I find I'm writing more than a few sentences in a post, I always copy it to Notepad and finish composing it there before copying it in to the forum to attempt to post it.

I hope you get it back.

OK, I'll have another go!

The subject above does not refer to media interviews, they only have themselves to blame for that, nor does it refer to personalities, of which there are plenty in the men's game even in the top 4. It does not even refer to the quality of the tennis, which is superb and probably at the highest level it has ever been at. So, I hear you asking, how can it possibly be boring?

It is boring because, at present, it is missing the one vital element that ALL sports require to be truly entertaining. The element of the unexpected, the shock loss, the unforeseen outcome, I am not referring to one individual match here but the result of the whole tournament. If, in any given major tournament that all 4 of the top players were involved in, you placed a bet on all 4 of them, you would be backing the nearest thing there is to a "sure thing" in sport and you would win, but you would not win any money, in fact you would probably take at least a 50% loss, if not more. Let's take the same situation in golf bet all 4 of the top players to win, you may make a profit, you may break even, you may even lose the whole lot. That is the basic nature of betting and sport. This does not happen in men's tennis. It's like watching a one horse race where the only possible excitement would be if the horse died, and that's more tragic than exciting.

Let me put it another way, think of the joy and euphoria a lot of the members of this forum felt when the unexpected happened in the Davis Cup (which has very little to do with the APT). This does not happen on the APT tour, and yes I know it was joyful when Andy won a grand slam, but this only cemented the hold that the top 4 have at present on men's tennis. When, I ask was the last time anyone other than these 4 won a major in the last 4/5 years, I'm sure Steven could tell me, but I would  hazard a guess at no more than 4 or 5 if that.

There are consequences from having 4 players stuck at the top, 1 of these I like to call the "log jam effect". This is that all the players ranked from 5 to 100 are working their behinds off trying to beat and dislodge 1 of them, this in turn results in players 101 to 200 having to also work their behinds off to make the top 100. This in turn again has the knock on effect that unless you are an exceptional player (like a certain Senor Busta that a few members of this forum have been following,and even he will find the going tough from here on in) your only hope of getting into the top 200 is through illness, injury or age of one of them. This I find a pity as there are a lot of very good players and even some excellent ones in these ranks. I am sure a lot of you have noted the gradual and steady rise of the middle rank of GB men, but I believe if you take a really close look, what you are seeing is a "bunching up" of the middle rank due to the aforementioned "log jam effect". I would just like to note here that GB has one of these exceptional players in a certain Mr Dan Evans, who could break the top 200 and possibly even higher but it would require the above stated working his behind off.

I am also aware that 1 or even on the odd occasion 2 of the top 4 suffer the shock result of going out in the Q/F or before but this still leaves the other 2 to mop up.

For one of the other consequences of there being 4 stuck at the top, I would point to the women's game, which I am currently (note the currently) more excited about following. There is 1 dominant player in the women's game at present being chased by a pack led by Ms Sharapova, this allows for the shock result, classic example last years French Open where even when Serena went out in the first round it was by no means odds on that Maria would win. The other thing this situation allows is the influx of new "young blood", of which we in the UK are fortunate enough to have not only 1 but 2 of the leading contenders.

In other words having 1 or even a rivalry of 2 in any game is good for the game but having 4 is definitely not ideal for men's tennis. Thus for a lot of tennis fans and the general public, whom I would hope we would all like to see more involved with tennis, it becomes boring.

I have been a fan for a long time of all forms of tennis, men's, women's, singles, doubles, juniors and yes even (shock, horror!) mixed doubles. Come on, who here did not enjoy watching Andy with Laura last year? 

Obviously if you are a tennis purist and are primarily interested in the quality of the tennis then it is in no manner boring.

All of the above is my own personal view of course.