Was it a surprise to see Novak Djokovic crash out of the Australian Open in the second round to a wildcard?
Of course it was.
But it wasn’t as big a shock as if it had happened this time last year.
The aura of invincibility that Djokovic had created has been chipped away bit by bit.
It started with his early defeat at Wimbledon.
That was understandably put down to the mental fatigue of finally completing his career grand slam in Paris a couple of weeks earlier.
Then there was another early loss at the Olympics and not winning the US Open.
And, being comprehensively outplayed by Andy Murray in that winner-takes-all match for World number one in London was another body blow.
Even though he beat Murray in Doha a fortnight ago, he still didn’t look like a player with the same swagger of the early part of 2016.
This is a guy who had been known to rip his T-shirt at the end of the match and had a real physical intimidation factor on court.
The body language is totally different now.
As so many sportsmen have found over the years, nothing goes on forever.
Tiger Woods is the biggest example, of course.
It’s not just about getting your own game back to where it used to be – which is incredibly difficult.
You also have the problem of your opponents viewing you differently now that the fear factor is gone. They play differently as a result.
Djokovic is young enough and good enough, and he may also still be motivated enough, to win more big tournaments.
But will he ever be the same force he was before? I doubt it.
* Seeing Dan Evans beat Marin Cilic and the form of Jo Konta have been great news for British tennis this week.
I loved the story about Evans having to go to the shop to buy his kit after being dropped by his sponsor. I’m sure he’ll be getting new branded gear soon enough!
For so long it was left to Andy Murray to be the one and only Brit at the grand slams.
Neither of them will get anywhere near to the level of Murray in their careers, but they will definitely have benefitted from what he has achieved.
Until he came along there was a psychological barrier for British tennis players. It was pretty much accepted that we couldn’t cut it at the top level.
Rhona Martin made a huge difference for curling. A lot of doors opened up after Rhona won her Olympic gold.
Having a role model, and somebody to try and surpass, is crucial for an athlete.
* It’s nice to be able to leave the house and only have a half-an-hour drive to a tournament this week.
We’re playing in the Glynhill Ladies championship at Braehead.
It’s a strong international field, with a few Scottish rinks taking part as well.
We’re coming into the next big stage of the season, with only a skins tournament in Canada left to go after this before the Scottish Championships.
We’ve had a bit of a blip in form recently, and we didn’t have a great tournament in Switzerland last week, so getting ourselves back to our best for the Scottish is the main goal.
