A long time ago,Tennis was regarded as a sport for kings and was treated as one. It was a show of sportsmanship, a game where the players respected each other, acknowledged a good shot and left the court together graciously, even in the face of defeat. They played not for trophies or money or in a pursuit of higher rankings, but only for the sheer fun of it.

The spectators were quick to applaud for every good shot, cheered for a player when he was winning and encouraged him when he was not.

Nowadays, the only time you see two players leaving court together is at Wimbledon where they have to bow before royalty in unison.

I saw a match at Wimbledon last year featuring Goran Ivanesevic and the young Aussie Jason Stoltenberg. After the latter won in high fashion, Goran briefly shook the winner's hand, stuffed his racquet in his bag and was gone long before Stoltenberg left.

In the French Open this year, the match between Thomas Muster and Jeff Tarango was played in poor spirits with Tarango constantly questioning the calls and mimicking Muster around the court. His antics got the best of Muster, who refused to shake hands with him after the match.

This certainly is not at all good sportsmanship, just ask any Stefan Edberg fan.

To think that these disputes arise only in the men's circuit is a mistake. Monica Seles was fined a few months back for swearing in a Fed Cup match; and Steffi Graf was seen uttering an obscenity in German in her match against Amanda Coetzer in the French Open this year. One of the WTA's latest prodigies, Martina Hingis, used to throw quite a few temper tantrums, but luckily she seems to have them under some sort of control now.

Admittedly, the women are slower to anger and quicker to apologize than the men. When Nicole Arendt was displeased when a point was given against her at match point at the French Open she refused to shake hands with the chair umpire when the match was over. However, afterwards she regretted this decision and stated that she was going to find that official to apologize for her misbehaviour.

The spectators do have a right to cheer and get excited at times when their player is winning, or to yell a word or two to encourage them when a point is over. However it is really rude when they scream or give their own calls during a point. And to top it off some fans say really mean things to players which is really intolerable.

In a match at the US Open last year, a spectator watching a Brenda Schultz-McCarthy match yelled out "Play like a professional" when she was getting ready to serve. Brenda looked up in the crowd, obviously hurt by the angry retort and promptly double faulted. Little did that spectator know that she was having severe injury problems and was playing against the advice of her coach and doctor.

It's a pity to see that a sport popularly known for the etiquette and the mannerisms of its players like Edberg or Chris Evert engage in such behaviour. Maybe in due time, tour officials for the men's and women's circuit will lay down harder principles regarding the code of conduct. In the mean time, as avid tennis fans, it is up to us to see that Tennis is enjoyed in its truest spirits.