"We have seen the future - it arrived today." Those were the words of Boris Becker after Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam title at the All England Club in 2003.

Nearly five years have passed and Becker's prophetic comment could have rung equally true last week in Melbourne.

While Novak Djokovic's maiden Slam will not likely mean as much to the world of men's tennis as that of a 22-year-old pony-tailed Swiss on the grassy centre court of Southwest London, the 2008 Australian Open spells the dawn of a new age in the sport.

Few would be foolish enough to intimate that the reign of the man considered by many to be the greatest tennis player in history has come to an end.

But the sea change that began in 2005 when a baby-faced Rafael Nadal claimed the first of his now-three French Open titles is now fully underway.

Four years of hegemony are now slowly braking to a halt, as a new crop of stars are finally emerging to fill the void left by the old guard.

Since claiming the mantle of world number one four years ago this week after winning the second of his 12 major trophies, Federer has held an unrelenting grip not only over the top spot in the rankings, but over every Grand Slam outside of the slow clay of Roland Garros.

In those four years only Marat Safin's astonishing 2005 Melbourne crown has prevented Federer from a clean sweep of the 12 hard/grass-court majors, and the Russian has since fallen far from his former status as a perennial title contender.

Capping off this span has been a two-and-half year period in which Federer reached ten successive Grand Slam finals, winning eight.

The only other two men to even reach four straight major finals in the Open Era were Rod Laver during his 1969 calendar year Grand Slam and Andre Agassi, who won three titles and reached four finals between 1999 and 2000.

Nadal's three-year dominion over the French Open, and as the Agassi to Federer's Pete Sampras, had also never faced any serious threat until this year's event at Melbourne Park.

The astonishing record the 21-year-old Rafa has compiled in three short seasons includes 131 straight weeks at second-from-the-top, three French Open titles, nine Masters Shields and a record-breaking 81 consecutive match win streak on clay.

In most other eras Nadal would have enough points to be number one in the world today.

Like Federer, Rafa's run at the top is far from over.

But, when the 20-year-old Djokovic dismantled the three-time Melbourne champion without dropping a set in the semi-finals on Rod Laver Arena one day after Nadal fell in straight sets to the unseeded French phenom Tsonga, it spelled the end of their two-man monopoly.

The subsequent final victory by Djokovic was a mere formality, not because Tsonga was not a worthy adversary, but because by convincingly unseating the champion Djkovic had already lowered the curtain on the old era.

The shift is less disastrous for Federer and Nadal than for those who have meekly bounced in and out of the top ten for three years without ever challenging the top two spots.

Both men should not be affected by the upheaval below them when it comes time for their respective majors of choice.

It's difficult to imagine Roger Federer losing at Wimbledon this year, or for that matter, as long as he chooses to play the tournament.

It's equally difficult to picture anyone aside from Nadal crashing on his knees to the soft dirt on Philippe Chatrier's centre court as he prepares to receive the Coupe des Mousquetaires after a French Open triumph.

For the men who have been perennial Slam "contenders" and mainstays of the top ten for the past five years, however, a new crop is coming along to sweep them into the history books.

Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Ivan Ljubicic, David Nalbandian, Nikolay Davdyenko, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya, Tommy Haas and Andy Roddick will soon be pushed aside (if they haven't been already) by Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Marcos Baghdatis, Tomas Berdych, Tsonga, Djokovic and a whole swarm of under-21s like Marin Cilic Sam Querrey and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Djokovic is already saying that he will soon be stepping into Federer's mantle as the best player in the world, a statement he makes with such confidence that it makes you think it's only a matter of when, and not if, the 20-year-old's prediction will come to fruition.

The brash Serbian did strike a wise tone of modesty after dethroning Federer, however, speaking a truth that is impossible to ignore.

It's not possible that only one tournament is changing the history, he said.

I am sure he is going to come back in a big style, of course. He's still planning to be the best player in the world, so we all know how good he is. We are going to see a lot of him this year.

The Djoker had it half right.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport