By the time we turn to the next article, the Golden Era is about to go up in smoke:
BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE BIG FOUR
While that headline may be on the alarmist side, there’s no question that it wasn’t a promising day for the younger half of the Fab 4. The Times reported that Murray is mulling hip surgery, while Novak Djokovic, who retired with an elbow injury, is considering taking an extended break from the game.
As Mike Dickson writes in The Mail, “If they do take time out, then it will mean the Big 4, who have carried the men’s game to such great heights in the past 10 years, will all have been obliged to take long breaks in the past 12 months.”
The other papers pick up on the theme of disintegration. The result is a new idea in men’s tennis that you’re probably going to hear a lot about in the coming months: rest.
Greg Rusedski sums up the prevailing wisdom in The Telegraph:
ANDY CAN STILL GET BETTER—BY GIVING HIMSELF A BREAK
“Roger and Rafa Nadal have written the handbook on this,” Rusedski says. “Roger took the second half of 2016 off, as well as the whole of this year’s clay-court season...He also stepped outside the tennis bubble and was able to see his game more clearly.”
Or, as The Sun puts it:
DJOKO MAY GIVE TENNIS THE ELBOW