Melbourne is the first central stop for the tennis caravan in the new year, and this is when tennis politicking is rejoined after the offseason. The annual players' meeting is held every year on the Saturday before the Australian Open, with round-robin events reportedly the subject of some heavy discussion this year.

The length and shape of the tennis season is a perennial topic – especially these days, with both the ATP and WTA executives floating major changes to the way their biggest events are organized. While creating four large combined events is the big project being contemplated on the men's side, another scheduling shift is also being proposed by the ATP: moving Davis Cup ties to the week after the Grand Slams.

The ITF, which runs the Grand Slams and Davis Cup, opposes the idea because it could deprive Davis Cup ties of top players who go deep into the preceding Slam. Will Roger Federer ever play a Davis Cup tie four days after winning a Grand Slam? Already, Federer routinely skips the first round of Davis Cup to ease up his schedule in the early part of the year.

But Thomas Johansson, a member of the ATP player council, doesn't agree that having the Slams and Davis Cup ties closer together would have impact on participation. "I think that [it] would be a good idea because I think the week in between is not helping the players," said Johansson. "I can understand a little bit why ITF doesn't want to change because they might think they're going to lose the top guys, but I don't think that's the case."

Fellow Swede Jonas Bjorkman, a former member of the council and Johansson's closest friend on tour, said he finds the current scheduling actually makes things more difficult.

The present Davis Cup world group calendar is as follows: the first round takes place two weeks following the Australian Open, the quarterfinals the week after Miami (seven weeks before Roland Garros), the semifinals two weeks after the US Open, and the final two weeks after the Masters Cup. The immediate impact of the proposed shift would presumably be on the first round and semifinal ties, which would follow four days after the preceding Grand Slam instead of 12 days after.

In 2006, Sweden played Argentina in the first round, two weeks after the Australian Open. "I flew back home because we were playing Argentina. I had to be home for four days and I had to fly to Argentina," said Bjorkman. "If I would have had Davis cup straight after the [Australian] Open, I would have flown straight down to Argentina. Much better scheduling for me. I can take two weeks off afterwards and be fresh for the rest of the tournaments. Now I have a [bad] week in between, a [bad] week after, and I have no rest."

Bjorkman added that he's not alone in feeling this way. "We've been signing papers and 18 out of the top 20 guys have said we want to have Davis Cup straight after," he said. "If you don't have your best players to play, that's where I think the ITF should think, 'okay, we've got to watch out, because this is not good for Davis Cup.' We want the best players to play there. Everyone is ready to commit but you've also got to listen to what the players say."

Nevertheless, having just four days between a Grand Slam final and a Davis Cup tie would be a gruelling prospect for players involved in both – seven best-of-five matches in two weeks, followed by media commitments and travel, followed by two to three more best-of-five contests in the emotional cauldron of Davis Cup.

Adjusting Davis Cup dates is one of the many structural changes being pushed by ATP chief Etienne de Villiers, who is marking one year in his current role and was a Disney executive before joining the ATP.

Several players have praised his performance over the last year, including Johansson. "Etienne is a great guy. He looks after his players a lot," he said. "Most of the players I think get along with him really well. He's a good listener as well. When you say something that he like or he doesn't like, he really listens to you."

Roger Federer was more guarded in his assessment. "Well, I think it was good for a change. I think [his predecessor] Mark Miles definitely did some good things. I didn't know him well enough, to be honest," he said. "I think Etienne has had a very interesting year. He's really raised many questions. He's gotten some answers, and I think it's going to be interesting to see what he does in the future."

As for Andy Roddick, he seemed to be positively biting his tongue. "I think he needs a little bit more time before we answer that question," he said.

What should de Villiers be looking to do? "Not call his players out publicly," shot back Roddick.

The word is that Roddick was referring to comments de Villiers made to reporters the Sunday before the Australian Open began, on players pulling out of tournaments. "It's not a reservation or an option. Let's not defraud the fans," a story by the AP quoted de Villiers saying. "If you go see U2 at a concert, and at every single concert, one of the band decided not to play, how long would it take you to get teed off? If The Edge didn't play, or Bono wasn't there, it would be unthinkable. I tell the players, 'That's what we are doing to our tour.'"

Last week, De Villiers also publicly 'called out' Nikolay Davydenko when Davydenko said players were pulling out of Sydney because it was "a small tournament" that "nobody cares about." Davydenko was fined $10,000 by the ATP and after his first match in Melbourne, he made a statement apologizing for his remark.

"I saw him last night," Canada's Globe and Mail reported de Villiers joking on Sunday. "And I said to him, 'This is the greatest promotion you've ever done for yourself.' And he said, 'I can do it every tournament.' So I said, 'I'll fine you every tournament, it may work for you.'"