So I don't even understand this great debate about if these guys 'n gals can be shaken off their perch.

The facts are: Roger Federer has been defeated, Rafael Nadal has been defeated, and the Williams sisters are patchy at the best - they win one tournament and then make an unceremonious exit from the next.

Okay, let's not confuse the issue. These players these are tops, but let's examine it further. Are they the very best? Yes. Are they winners? Yes. Are they solid players? Yes. Are they infallible? NO. All that's needed to nudge them off their championship perches is an opponent with skill, confidence, a level head and a solid support team.

I have observed a certain pattern of performance by these challengers. He/she will defeat some seeded players before meeting the top seed. They will play a very tight first set then win the second set. They will then start thinking of the next match, lose the next set, lose the match.

If they happen to win (which obviously doesn't happen very often) they start getting ahead of themselves, become overnight sensations, receive endorsements and sponsorship, enjoy celebrity status, play less and less tennis and the only way back is to start at square one and recapture the talent they have.

Now the same player starts getting eliminated in semis, quarters and third rounds. We are all confused - what happened, so much talent, so little in the way of results? So much time away from tennis, appearing in TV shows, events, charities. The work they need to put into the game is declining every day. "Exploitation by adulation" is the term I coined for this downward spiral of the emerging players.

The big problem is that talent alone will only take them so far. If their support system is not mature enough and if they don't have the supreme confidence they are in trouble. That is the real difference between a player like Novak Djokovic on the one hand and, say, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis. We all know what happened to Djokovic when he got ahead of himself against Marat Safin at Wimbledon, though I rate Djokovic far ahead of others in the focus he carries.

Unfortunately, the women's side is even more fickle - you have players like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and, for that matter, Maria Sharapova. Yes, there are plenty of challengers, but what's needed are believers! For sure! Everyone can be shaken.

Fedex can be dispatched by Nadal whenever Nadal wants - and not because Nadal is a tennis God. I truly believe that if there is one it can only be Federer. But because Nadal is now in the head of Federer, Federer is no longer invincible. Look at the players who have defeated Fedex this year - Djokovic, Andy Murray, Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, even Radek Stepanek.

But I digress. The point is, if the gods can fall then so can anyone else. I have no doubt that Federer will end up in the US Open semis but I have grave doubts about his going beyond the semis. Nadal wants it more.

On the other hand, in the women's side, the situation is even more shaky - the Williams sisters can lose any day to anyone because at least one of them suffers from reverse confidence syndrome.

Serena thinks she's completely invincible even though Justin Henin kicked her a$$ almost every time they met. In fact, I don't think there is any other player right now who sounds so arrogant as Serena. After every major defeat, she talks about everything being not in her favour except the fact that it was the skills of the opponent that defeated her. This is confidence taken to the most negative level. To me, the Williams sisters are most susceptible of all. They can defeat themselves without any help from others.

The conclusion remains the same - everyone is vulnerable, everyone can, and will, be broken if the challengers keep one thing in mind: If you get a break against a seeded player and you are one game up in a set, act as if your life depends on keeping the distance; use that one-game difference to win the set.

Understand that the seeded player is under pressure and you must not think of the next set, just the one you are playing. Don't think about how you will celebrate when you win the match, don't think about how happy your family and friends will be when you become the champion. Think on these lines for even a split second and the next thing you know, you are shaking hands with the seed at the net and they're saying: ''Better luck next time!''

So, is tennis so predictable? Never say never!