Shockeroo at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals in London Nov. 16 as Roger Federer withdrew from the final against Novak Djokovic due to back spasms, leaving an admittedly mentally exhausted Nole the winner in a walkover.

But the real shock may be the underlying reason for the withdrawal. Simon Briggs, tennis correspondent for The Telegraph, reports that Fed got into a heated exchange with compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the locker room after their taut semifinal duel, which at the very least delayed treatment for Fed’s back injury. The reason for the exchange: Stan the Man had taken exception to Feddy Bear’s wife, Mirka, rooting too loudly for her man and against himself.

Tennis players regularly take their opponents’ “teams” to task for such cheerleading. Fed’s been known to tell the Djokovic clan to shut up and Rafael Nadal’s coach, his Uncle Toni, to pipe down. Sometimes the players get on their own boxes as when Nole told his father once to leave an arena. ...

Had an interesting conversation with a saleswoman the other day regarding watches. I remarked that it’s intriguing that so many watch manufacturers have tennis players for pitch men – and women. You don’t see as many NFL players representing watches.

That might seem counterintuitive since tennis isn’t played against a clock – although it certainly records the time of each match, whereas football is played in four 15-minute intervals, albeit with lots of timeouts and a halftime. Shouldn’t Peyton Manning be the spokesman for Piaget?

But a watch – a gift of time – is a classy thing, she said. Tennis players are classy, she added. By implication, football players are not.

It’s always dangerous to generalize, of course, but there is some truth in what she said, as I myself have pointed out in this blog. Tennis has prescribed rules for deportment and an intimate, relatively quieter setting – though it can get pretty loud – that underscores infractions. When Novak Djokovic sarcastically applauded the crowd as it applauded his double-fault in a semifinal against Kei Nishikori at the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals in London Nov. 15, he was quick to blame himself for letting the crowd get to him and losing his concentration.

Will Fed London drama spill over into the Davis Cup?

Men’s tennis at a crossroads?