Nadal and Djokovic entering the Post-Friendship Era?

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

For Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, respectively, it's been quite the tumble, this 2011. Some well-executed video evidence has garnered much ballyhoo lately depicting how "Rafole" handshakes have progressed (regressed?). Truth: It's been a terribly beautiful year in tennis between these two. Much has been made of their terms of affection or affinity for one another at the net at the end of these meetings.

See for yourself:

The Spin opts to differ with those reading so much into the alleged frostiness between two great champions. When a defeat becomes a streak, it stings. Tennis is a solitary sport, and Nadal is not used to being reduced, let alone on clay in two straight Masters finals. Let alone six times in a row. Djokovic piled on in consecutive Slam finals to boot. Still, credit where it's due: Nadal maintained full respect for his friendly foe during and after these finals—finals, all of them!—and his visage looked nothing more than increasingly quizzical. And so it is: Novak is the mystery that Rafa must solve.

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What's that you say, time to come up for air now? Well, okay—consider this picture of a few ATP young guns wielding lightsabers. That's Bernard Tomic, Ryan Harrison, Viktor Troicki, and Nicolas Amalgro, all in Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Open. Says here that Amalgro looks handiest wielding the weapon. If we're casting, though, Harrison probably makes the most capable Luke Skywalker.

—Jonathan Scott (@jonscott9)