Rafael Nadal is struggling with his confidence, while Novak Djokovic faces an anxious wait to see how long his wrist injury keeps him away from the game.
Andy Murray is still searching for consistency, and his best form, as well as a coach, after his return from back surgery, and Roger Federer is ready to miss his first grand slam tournament since 2000, or any other event, to be with his wife when she delivers their third child.
The rest of men’s tennis must be licking their lips.
After years of wallowing in the shadows, this could be their chance to bask in the spotlight.
But wait, there is Stanislas Wawrinka with whom to contend.
The Australian Open champion suggested he is not just a one-major wonder as he bounced back to beat Federer in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday for his first Masters title.
This was only his second win against his Davis Cup teammate in 15 duels and, on the confidence scales, it should be a boost – although he may not need one.
“When I go into a match against them, I think I can beat them,” Wawrinka said about the “Big Four” after his 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 win on clay at Monaco. “I’m on the court to win. I’m more consistent and I have better results.
“The difference is that now I have more trust in myself.”
With his soaring self-confidence, Wawrinka has been busy altering the order of the tennis hierarchy. It has been a lone fight, though, as if the 29-year-old Swiss looks over his shoulder, he might not find many following his lead.
They still seem to lack that belief.
Wawrinka, on the other hand, has managed to dent the confidence of a man considered the epitome of courage in tennis – Nadal. The Spaniard’s loss in the Australian Open final still haunts him.
“I don’t have to lie to anybody,” Nadal said after his quarter-final loss to David Ferrer in Monte Carlo, his earliest exit from the tournament since 2003. “After what happened in Australia it was little bit harder for me to find again the intensity, the confidence, the inside power that I always have.
“I’m going to fight to try to find that solution soon.”
Returning to Barcelona, where he has won eight titles and lost just once – to Alex Corretja in 2003 – could be a great place to find some of that confidence.
The surface is clay, where Nadal has a staggering 272-15 win-loss record since 2005.
Besides Barcelona, he has won eight French Open titles, eight Monte Carlo Masters, seven Rome Masters and one Hamburg Masters in these past 10 years.
Wawrinka will not be in Barcelona, so that should help, but the Swiss and Nadal could meet in Madrid next month – and that is a match worth waiting for.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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