Post mortems are always ugly but someone's gotta do it and, much as I dislike scraping fresh wounds, I think sometimes we need to do it so we can be healthier.

So I looked at some of Rafael Nadal's comments after his US Open defeat by Andy Murray and have to say that, to me, they were almost Rogeresque! Let me explain what I mean.

For many months now, Federer would make comments after tournaments that I thought were kind of partial denials of reality. For example, his comments after the French Open and before Wimbledon that he was still the favorite to win Wimbledon and that grass was his best surface. While the comment was partially correct, it ignored the fact that other contenders, especially Nadal, was snapping at his heels - grass or no grass.

Sure enough, Nadal did a Federer at Wimbledon and won the title. No denying that Federer played extremely well but no denying the end result either. I kept feeling that Federer was reluctant to acknowledge that his crown was in danger - that unlike any other time in the past four years, he was being chased very closely by Nadal and maybe a bunch of others.

Even though many predicted that Nadal would win the US Open, my reading after watching him in initial matches was that Nadal's busy and demanding season was taking its toll on his body and he was surviving matches plainly on skills and willpower, and not on stamina.

Asked if he might cut his schedule next year to avoid the match fatigue, Nadal said: "Playing so many events is what enabled me to become the world No.1. If you want to be in the top position, do you think you have any chance if you play less? No."

As you may know, next on Nadal's agenda is the Davis Cup semi-final and then the Masters Series event at Shanghai.

I think this is a potentially dangerous line of thought and a risky way of going into the next season considering that the Davis Cup starts within the next nine days. Even though the Masters events don't start until November 9, it is still way too short a period to recover from gruelling matches. Is Nadal cutting it too fine physically, because the Australian Open then starts on January 19?

Maybe I'm getting paranoid for nothing. After all, Nadal is a supremely fit athlete, but something doesn't seem quite right. I would rather have him skip the Davis Cup (or maybe just be a reserve for the Davis Cup), take longer rest and then go to the Masters in Shanghai.

Federer is now the US Open champion and winner of 13 Slams, and I hate to write anything that takes away from his achievements, but I've got to say that even though he beat Andy Murray in the final, he didn't convince me that he will rule the courts the way he used to.

Many are predicting that this is the return of Federer the invincible, but I'm going to wait and watch. He showed glimpses of his old self when Murray was making mistakes but not when Murray was firing back. To me that is the difference between the old and current Federer. The old Federer would make the best look like ordinary and the current Federer makes ordinary look like good! Great player no doubt but old Roger? Not yet.

To me Federer can easily go beyond the 14 Slams of Pete Sampras, but only if his old form returns.

Watching Murray up close during the US semis and in practice matches made me think that this man could very well displace Novak Djokovic from the world No.3 position in the next six months or so.

It's not only his tenacity and good play; the man can think on his feet and play deceptive shots to fool opponents. He can cover the ground well from coast to coast and his shot arsenal is getting bigger too - we have all seen him hit those running cross-court forehands that are tough to handle and are winning shots more than ever before.

I like Djokovic but I am getting the feeling that he will really have to step it up. I will keenly follow how he performs in Shanghai.