So, the 19 year old heirs apparent of men's tennis  Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the space of 24 hours have been bundled out of the Australian Open at the 4^th round stage by the present incumbents Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal respectively.

Federer dismissed the top ranked Serbian comprehensively with a 6-2 7-5 6-3 drubbing in a manner that revealed the huge gulf between the current world number 1, and the man who has often stated his desire to get there. Whereas Nadal had a much rougher ride as he fought off the bravura of the tactically astute Scot to prevail 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Federer and Nadal know that Djokovic and Murray are very credible threats to their dominance, but have shown quite conclusively in Melbourne that they are not prepared to surrender their territory just yet. Federer is now 3-0 against Djokovic and 1-1 against Murray; Nadal is 1-0 against Murray and 1-0 against Djokovic.

The Serb and the Scot's rise to the higher echelons of the game with both entering the top 20 for the first time late last year, seems to be running uncannily almost in parallel. They are both the same age with only 7 days separating their birthdays, and both look destined for the top 10 in the next few months.

Of the two it could be argued that Murray is the more precocious having already claimed some notable top 10 scalps including Federer himself. He came close to beating Nadal yesterday and seems to have much more variety in his game than his Serbian contemporary. However, Djokovic is ahead in the number of ATP titles with 3 to his name (Adelaide 2007, Metz and Amersfoort 2006) to Murray's lone title at San Jose last year where he famously beat Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt back-to-back. He is also marginally ahead in the rankings at 15, with the Scot just one place below him at 16. These two are clearly joined at the hip professionally and it will be very interesting to see how they progress as the year unfolds.

In their only encounter to date, it was Djokovic who prevailed after a slow start to beat Murray at the Madrid Masters Series last year 1-6 7-5 6-3.

Djokovic having been schooled once again by the Swiss maestro in their 4^th round encounter in Melbourne knows what it will take to get the better of the world number 1. "You have to be positive; you have to be confident to win. That has to be your goal for the match against him."

Djokovic also made some observations about the on-court persona and aura of Federer that was altogether alien to him as a player. "Sometimes it looks funny the way he plays - so confident, so perfect in some situations. It feels and looks like he doesn't feel any pressure which is strange because he's number 1 and everybody wants to get to this spot. He's so superior." Perhaps the ambitious Serb who has made no secret about his desire to become the best player in the world feels that while the ever improving Federer is around playing god-like tennis, he may need to reassess his ultimate long-term goal.

"He improved on his game, which is the funny thing" Djokovic jokingly lamented after his defeat. "He improved a lot. Every time you see him, he improves. I don't know what things he can improve on in the future, but he plays better and better every time."

Having soundly beaten the young pretender, the world number 1 believes Djokovic has a very bright future: "I see him going much further up the rankings" Federer enthused. "His game has come really a long way. He has impressed me."

Nadal's assessment of Murray having finally beaten him after 3 hours and 50 minutes of punishing tennis was even more gushing. "He'll be in the Masters Cup at the end of the year", the Spaniard confidently predicted. "He plays well on all surfaces, so he can win Wimbledon, US Open, Australia and even the French Open", Nadal continued although he didn't clarify whether that would be in the same calendar year and while he is still playing the game.

"He's very smart on the court. It was difficult; I was fighting all the time. He was serving and volleying a lot which surprised me. It was very difficult to feel comfortable against him."

Nadal admission that Murray's variety in his game is unsettling to him is a very telling one. Not only does he not enjoy playing players that can blast him off court off both wings like James Blake and Thomas Berdych, he also finds the lack of rhythm that Murray's variation conjures up most unsettling.

Murray will be delighted that the bruising 5 set encounter with the Spanish hulk did not end in defeat because of a physical capitulation for which he has been widely criticised in the past.

"I'm glad that I went out there and played for 3 hours and 50 minutes with one of the fittest guys. It didn't come down to a physical thing", Murray said.

"I had chances to win; I'm going to learn a lot from this. He has a little more experience than me, but I was happy with the way that I fought. A few points here and there and it could have been a different outcome."

Djokovic and Murray may have a way to go before they are ready to supplant Federer and Nadal as the world's top players; however, in Melbourne they collectively announced their intent.

Andre Jones