I think its been going on longer than before the economic issues but I can see the growth of other sports being an issue. I wonder if the total lack of personality from guys like Sampras and Courier failed to inspire the following generation.
Andy Murray for me. He won the US Open so he knows what it takes to win a major title and he beat Federer & Novak in the Olympics at Wimbledon last year so that'll give him a slight mental edge over them. Plus Federer isn't the force he used to be.