The Net Post is back after a three week hiatus in which time the tennis world has been blessed with remarkable stories. Rafael Nadal became the Olympic champion on top of his many wonders at Wimbledon and the French Open, Elena Dementieva won the women's gold medal for Russia and tossed away her bridesmaid's attire, Roger Federer jigged about like a demented man when he won doubles gold for Switzerland with Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Murray won a Masters Series title in Cincinnati, his first. Maybe we should holiday more often.

And last but by no means least, Etienne De Villiers, the executive chairman and president of the ATP decided to stand down from his twin posts, just when he looked to have positioned the men's governing body where he wanted it.De Villiers gave a farewell speech to the players at Flushing Meadows on Saturday which was brief and to the point, the reaction to his announcement was polite. No tears were shed, by all accounts.

And so who is next for the hottest seat in the sport? Might this be the time for the twin governing bodies of tennis, the ATP and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to seriously consider becoming one and promoting Larry Scott, the chief executive of the women's tour and a former ATP politico, to take command of both entities. It would be controversial but worth considering, even if the men may find it hard to swallow what might be construed as a takeover.

De Villiers, a former Disney executive (something certain players never allowed him to forget) is likely to find himself a plum job somewhere else in sport - my money is on a role in the vibrant but confused world that is international cricket - but will remain in his post until the end of the year so there is not a vacuum into which the new man/woman would have to step.

John McEnroe has not been slow in suggesting it is time for a Tennis Commissioner of tennis i.e. him along the lines of the US PGA golf tour, and John McEnroe, the Net Post learns, has applied for the ATP post. Not junior, but senior. The 73-year-old patriarch of the McEnroe clan - who used to carry in his suit pocket the British tabloid cuttings about his son he did not like and brandish them in the writers' face when they crossed paths - has let it be known that he would like to be considered for the role. He has written the following letter to administrators, agents and players, including Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the No.1 and No.2 players in the world.

It reads....

Gentlemen: As you all probably know, I am the father of John, Mark (my "normal son," the lawyer) and Patrick McEnroe. I have met some of you at various tournaments, Davis Cup ties, etc.

To get promptly to the point, I am interested in succeeding Etienne de Villiers as Chairman of ATP Tour, Inc. I am strongly of the view that the best interests of men players, particularly the top ranked players, have been very badly served by Mr de Villiers, to put it mildly, and by his predecessors.

The rules for participation on the Tour are an abomination. My own view is that NO player should be required to play in ANY TOURNAMENT if he doesn't wish so to do. Also, as long as a player's ranking entitles him to entry, he should be able to enter any tournament without requiring a minimum of tournaments each year. This is a position I have held for over thirty years.

You are all too young to remember that, in the early 1980s, I represented the "quintessential quintet" (Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Vitas Gerulaitis, McEnroe (John) and Guillermo Vilas), in negotiations with the Men's International Professional Tennis Council ("MIPTC") over newly proposed rules. Those rules included proposed "hard designations" by the MIPTC for the top hundred players on the ATP computer. You will not be surprised that the QQ were not happy with that proposal. We were able to negotiate an arrangement whereby the QQ and the Council agreed in advance what the "designations" would be.

I am aware that the Mercedes-Benz international sponsorship of the Tour ends at the end of this year and will not be renewed. As your new Chairman, it would be a major priority of mine zealously to work to find a new sponsor. Also, I would work diligently to find opportunities to monetize various aspects of the Tour in order to ensure its financial foundation is solid.

Additionally, I have represented John and Patrick in connection with all of their legal needs. This includes all of their broadcasting contracts with BBC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, Tennis Channel and Australia's Channel 7, agreements with respect to special events, endorsement agreements with Nike, Dunlop, Wilson, Snauwert, Sergio Tacchini, etc., not to mention a myriad of endorsements for companies not directly involved with tennis, book contracts and so on. I know and have interfaced with all the constituencies in professional tennis for many years.

Finally, I am currently Of Counsel to the internationally recognized law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP, where I practiced commercial law since 1967. From 1974 through 2000, I was a partner in the Corporate Department.

I would be most pleased to meet in person at a convenient time and venue (the US Open site?) with any or all of you, your agents and anyone else you deem appropriate. Please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions, comments or suggestions you may have. Thank you all in advance for your consideration of this proposal.

Sincerely,

John P. McEnroe

For what it's worth, the Net Post thinks it is all rather a marvellous idea. And, after all, the leader of the free world may be about to elect as a President someone McEnroe's age.

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Brad Gilbert's time at the Lawn Tennis Association has officially come to an end. Unlike its trumpted beginning in the summer of 2006, there was not even a release announcing the end of an arrangement which garnered worldwide attention because of the manner in which it was put together and the largesse involved.

Whether or not it was worth the investment, time alone will tell, though when the LTA chose to spend so much on one man, it was almost entirely with Andy Murray's career in mind and when Murray chose after 16 months to dispense with the American's services, he became something of a millstone. The past few months have been spent overseeing Alex Bogdanovic's career, with the British No.2 currently standing at No.172 in the world, over 60 spots shy of his career best where he had been stationed six months before Gilbert was foisted on him.

When Bogdanovic was beaten in the first round of qualifying for the US Open this week, Gilbert was freed to continue piecing back his TV career which was put on hold while he was brought in to transform the British tennis landscape. There he was at the New Haven tournament last week, illuminating one commentary with the legendary line "now he has to rev it up and let it all hang out."

He is also penning columns on coaching for Forbes, the American publishing company, which runs a bi-weekly magazine. "Unlike the world of professional team sports," Gilbert says, "in professional tennis the players are directly responsible for hiring, firing and financially supporting their coach (not so in his case with the LTA). So if you're a coach on the tennis circuit, think before you scream at your player, because in tennis, the player is the bank.

"Over recent decades, professional tennis coaches have seen the sport grow from a grass-roots operation into a mega-industry. Everything's gotten bigger: the venues, the prize money, the media coverage. The stakes are high for the players. As an individual sport, it's important to build a support team and build it well--and the first investment is a coach.

"Tennis is a "no owner" business. For the professional coach, there's no safety net. You are 100% an individual contractor with no owner or general manager to separate you from the player. Long-term contracts don't exist unless you're related by blood, which can also suffer the occasional fall-out. Usually agreements are made on monthly or yearly terms, subject to termination based on poor results, poor play or a plain old bad day at the office." Or the fact that your player has had enough of you.

Now that the party is over, the LTA is now seeking the means of getting the best out of Bogdanovic. John Lloyd, the Davis Cup captain, wonders whether he should select him for next month's world group qualifier against Austria at Wimbledon for this is a competition that has served to expose Bogdanovic's frailties when the pressure is really on.

If he decides on another route, the only option as second singles has to be Josh Goodall, whose ranking has risen over 170 spots this year but has never played a Davis Cup tie in his life before. And, as Lloyd believes that the match will probably come down to a decisive fifth rubber, his choice is going to be critical.

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Robert Smeets, ranked No.156 in the world, has qualified for a grand slam tournament main draw for the first time and is as elated as one would imagine. Smeets moved to Australia from his native Holland when he was 13 and lives in the city of Ipswich, Queensland. His coach is James Trotman, was raised in Ipswich, England.

Trotman, regarded as one of Britain's leading coaches by anyone you care to name who knows anything about such matters, began working for Tennis Australia 18 months ago and has taken Smeets under his wing.

The results speak for themselves. Of Britain's four competitors in the men's qualifying competition, Alex Bogdanovic, Alex Slabinsky, Richard Bloomfield and Josh Goodall, only Goodall made it past the first round and his lone success was short-lived. Any one of them might have profited enormously from having Trotman in their corner. Britain's loss; Australia's gain.

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Further on the subject of Australia, Lleyton Hewitt, who has single handedly kept the Davis Cup flag fluttering there in the past few years, is not only missing the US Open but also the daunting world group qualifier with Chile in Antofagasta next month. The 27-year-old former world No.1 and Wimbledon champion said yesterday that he had exhausted "every other possibility, other than surgery" before consenting to have an operation on his left hip.

Hewitt said he had found it "impossible and frustrating not being able to continue to play and be competitive at the highest level" in Beijing. "Surgery was always the last resort, but unfortunately that's what it came down to. I am shattered that I can't lead the Australian Davis Cup team in Chile in our bid to rejoin the world group and hope that the boys can still come through with a great win."

In Hewitt's absence and with Chris Guccione thought be lukewarm about playing, the baton is likely to be passed to the 15-year-old phenomenon Bernard Tomic to play singles for his country and become one of the youngest ever participants at this level of the championship.

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Maria Sharapova is in New York City to do the expected round of sponsorship meets and greets and attend tonight's celebration to mark 40 years of Open tennis but she is still seething that extent of the muscle tear in her right shoulder was not discovered until it had ended her chances of playing in both the Olympics and the US Open.

The Russian who won this title two years ago, was seen by doctors after her Australian Open triumph and told she would not risk further damage by playing on. Somehow, the extent of the damage was not spotted and much of Sharapova's subsequent lack of form can be put down to her playing in pain and not wanting to make more of it than she thought she should.

Max Eisenbud, Sharapova's agent at IMG, is having to focus his attention here on the latest of the players he represents, one Coco Vandeweghe, from the United States, a wild card, who plays Jelena Jankovic, the No.2 seed from Serbia in the first round.

Vandeweghe, 16, comes from intriguing stock - her grandfather Ernie Vandeweghe, played seven seasons with the New York Knicks basketball team and is married to the 1952 Miss America, while one of her uncles is German-born Kiki Vandeweghe, general manager the New Jersey Jets.