Boris Becker has had the door shut in his face. Last week's agreement between the ATP Tour and the directors of the Super Nine tournaments has ended the former Wimbledon champion's immediate hopes of gaining control of the tour and of directing the tennis revolution which he believes is overdue.

But although Becker may have failed he has certainly made a difference. His behind-the-scenes manoeuvring has influenced both the dramatic new look that the tour will have from the year 2000 onwards and the atmosphere in which it is being created.

For about the past month the game has been alive with rumours of Becker's secret meeting with the motor racing mogul Bernie Ecclestone, of £100 million being invested in a breakaway elite circuit and of a Formula One-style world rankings race that might make tennis more attractive to the ordinary punter.

All this led to an agreement on the ATP Tour/Super Nines being brought forward, for fear that some of the tournament directors might switch to join the revolutionaries.

The changes will be the most significant in a quarter of a century. Crucially the Super Nines have agreed with the ATP Tour to impose a mandatory commitment upon leading players, who will now be entered automatically in these tournaments.

Although the four Grand Slam tournaments, which operate independently, will not do this, their combined committee has agreed that points from the Australian, French and US Opens and Wimbledon will count automatically towards the world rankings. This goes a long way towards creating an identifiable super series of 13 tournaments, and is good news for Wimbledon because the armada of Spaniards who avoid competing on grass are now less likely to stay away.