T

he last ten years of tennis has been phenomenal. It's hard to compare between players of each generation with every turn of the decade, but what marks each tennis era are the many celebrated rivalries.

Today you have Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal; prior to that you had Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi; before that it was Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg; and earlier than that you had John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg, there's been a generation of strong rivalries that has made this Grand Slam great.

But I think it's very hard to say that the Rafal and Federer era was better than their predecessors. They were just the best players of their time and I always say that the champions of each generation find a way to win with the tools they were given. I think it is wrong to compare one to another.

One thing is for certain: The first round of any event has quadrupled in terms of quality. Today, Federer would have been pushed harder in his opening match as we saw this week. Rafael was pushed just as hard in his first match at the Australian Open as well. There are no more easy matches for anybody.

Women's tennis has grown in leaps and bounds as well because of the quality of tennis great Martina Navratilova and what she did for women's tennis, followed by the Williams sister, who took it to a different level. And now you have bigger girls working harder to cope with the strenuous nature of the sport, and players such as Lindsey Davenport and Maria Sharapova emerging to compete with the Williams sisters.

Indeed, the game has become tougher and more competitive in the early rounds. Granted that would-be champions show their quality in the quarters and semis finals, but due to advances and change in tennis equipment, balls and court surfaces, there's been a marked shift in skill.

Hence, I would say there are few players today who play with skill, as opposed to pace, power and precision - and you can pick them out with a hand,

The average player height when I was competing was 5 ft 9 inches, today its 6 ft 4 or 5 inches. So now you've got to face big guys, such as Juan Martin Del Potro who's serving down from 8 to 9 feet when he extends his racket. How do you miss the service box from that height?

Asian athletes can be very quick, and this can be an advantage for rapid fire sports such as badminton, squash and table tennis. But all arguments can be put to rest with athletes such as Usain Bolt, who has proven that you can be tall with long strides and still win a short race. The dynamics have changed today. Physical attributes play a large role now.

The greatest thing about the game today is how open the competition is now - especially in the men's game. My cohost Alan Wilkins asked me yesterday who I thought would win the Australian Open, and because I had to mention one name, I said Federer because you couldn't bet against someone as competitive as him.

But we come to the first Grand Slam of the year and even the world's No. 1 is no longer a sure thing. Possibly two years ago, there would be no dispute and I would have said Federer with great conviction, and the same can be said of Nadal for the French Open. Now, if either is slightly below par, they'll be in trouble.

He's come to the first Grand Slam of the year having lost twice to Nikolay Davydenko back-to-back in London and Doha. And you now have upstarts in Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco and Del Potro, who are all looking hot, and Andy Roddick is waiting on the sidelines for everyone to fall apart. So you have many guys who could possibly come in and win.

And let's not rule out any upsets from Marin Cilic or Tsonga, guys like that could create confusion in the draw.