Kei Nishikori is congratulated by Roger Federer after their match during the Sony Open at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne on March 26. Bottom: Murray

By Kevin Mitchell/The Guardian


Roger Federer, who is edging back up the rankings, and Andy Murray, who is going in the opposite direction, leave the baked hard courts of Miami for the draining clay of Europe more encouraged than despondent in defeat.
However, just three months and 20 tournaments into the 11-month season, there is a clear sense that 2014 is going to deliver even more shocks than did 2013, when the first significant cracks began to show at the top of the game.
Federer looks content again at No4, the very least ranking he would settle for in his pomp. He is happy with his new, bigger racket, his new, wise mentor, Stefan Edberg, and unconcerned that he turns 33 in August. While it’s too early to say if he can he carry his three-set form and confidence into the slams, he is back in the mix after a worryingly long absence.
Recovered from back niggles that cut him down for seven weeks a year ago, Federer is moving with elegant freedom again, and he hit some shots from the archives before Kei Nishikori beat him in three quality sets to reach the semi-finals of the second Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
Federer lost to Novak Djokovic, too, in the final in Indian Wells, but he beat him in the semis in Dubai and went on to get the better of Tomas Berdych in the final, breaking a title drought that stretched back to the grass of Halle just before Wimbledon last year. He will take this loss on the chin.
Murray, similarly, engaged in some breathtaking exchanges with Djokovic before being bundled out of Miami three matches before he had the chance to defend his title. He will look at the rankings on Monday and be less than thrilled that he has drifted four places south of Federer, yet, like Federer, he knows his tennis is in a good place. And you are allowed to lose  especially if the other guy is playing out of his skin.
Djokovic, unbeaten in 10 matches, has that priceless knack of finding a way. In two US Open semi-final five-setters, he  Federer with chutzpah and daring, his hit-and-hope return to save match-point in 2011 reducing the loser to post-match apoplexy. Against Murray on Wednesday night, the determined Serb did it again. This time, though, there was cause for concern, and Djokovic should not be allowed a pass.
His moment arrived in a twinkling when he put his racket on the ball on Murray’s side of the net mid-rally at the end of the first set.  It ignited a meltdown that cost the Scot the point and did his equilibrium no good at all.
Murray, who otherwise played brilliantly, lost the last eight points of the match.
It is inconceivable that Djokovic  26 years old and the owner of six slam titles  does not know that it is illegal to hit the ball on the opponent’s side of the net. The umpire, also, should go and sit in the dunce’s corner for getting it wrong and failing to acknowledge his error when everyone else  back here watching on television and there in the stands  could see it.
 “I’m not sure; you tell me  Maybe he’s right, I’m not sure,” Djokovic told Brad Gilbert courtside immediately afterwards.
That’s not good enough. I’ve barely swung a racket anywhere but a council dirt track and I know you can’t do that.
Ivan Lendl, who lives three hours away at Vero beach, was a relaxed figure in Murray’s box, just a week after their parting. There is still no word on a successor, and unlikely to be before the French Open.  Murray also looked relaxed. He hit the ball early and hard and stretched Djokovic to near his limit. But for the first-set blip-and-splutter, his demeanour was pretty good.
All that aside, the constantly shifting balance of power in the game makes for fascinating viewing nearly every week now.
Nishikori’s win over Federer followed his defeat of the world No4 David Ferrer in a real dog-fight. Impressions that Nishikori, who has succumbed to injury and self-doubt in the past, is an easy touch at the business-end of tournaments might need to be recalibrated.
And he got a blessing from on high afterwards. “I think Kei does really well controlling the ball,” Federer said. “He has great technique, especially on the backhand, very simple, very short back swings, so he does a really nice job of having good timing. I predict he’s going to be top 10 in a short while.”
Alexander Dolgopolov, also, has made a lot of noise the past few weeks, slightly louder than Ernests Gulbis and Marin Cilic  and they are all spreading doubt among their peers and betters.
Elsewhere in the upper reaches, Rafael Nadal has been in blinding form in Miami, but went out early in Indian Wells. Berdych took heart from beating Cilic in Rotterdam before losing to Federer in Dubai. Milos Raonic is on the rise again. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost meekly here to Murray, looks vulnerable. Juan Martn Del Potro is out injured, probably for the season, his left wrist requiring an operation. Richard Gasquet has yet to impress.
John Isner is stirring. And Stanislas Wawrinka has shown flashes of the form that won him the Australian Open.
While we could do without the controversy, what has enlivened the Tour is uncertainty.