There is an inherent weakness at the top and tennis requires a leader of courage, wisdom and experience who stands up for his sport with concise words and strong character.

I would stop making outrageous claims, stop raising expectation to levels that cannot be realised and be prepared to take responsibility when things did not work out, not just say that I would. So if I made mistakes I would own up to them and if I made too many and the game was going down the plughole, I would resign.

Meanwhile, Martin Samuel in The Daily Mail ponders the case of Callum Priestley, the British hurdler charged with failing a drugs test, who shares a coach with Olympic gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu, who was banned for a year after missing a drugs test.

Ohuruogu did not fail a test, but she did fail to turn up to be tested three times, earning a one-year ban, before returning to run personal best times and win gold at the World Championships and Beijing Olympics. As has been frequently stated, however, she missed the test not for nefarious reasons but because she was a silly old scatterbrain. Just like Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United, now the captain of England.

What a pair of chumps, eh? Thank heavens we know there was nothing sinister going on.

Except we do not, and we never will, and when an athlete who shares a coach with Ohuruogu fails a test, it throws into sharp relief the shallow and self-serving poses of those in athletics who chose to detail supposition around her case as fact.

Gold medals and the captain’s armband have adorned Ohuruogu and Ferdinand since. This is old ground and we have moved on, is the argument.

Until one reads that an athlete in the care of Ohuruogu’s coach has failed a drugs test and we are right back where we came in. If only we could be like the athletes — and just forget it.