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Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will open the 2009 ATP season by playing at the Qatar Open.
Qatar tennis federation president Nasser al-Kholiafi says Andy Murray and Andy Roddick will also take part in the hard-court tournament, which begins Jan. 5.
The tournament in Doha is one of three to start the 2009 tennis season, along with the Brisbane International in Australia, and the Chennai Open in India.
AP
In his prime, Johnny Unitas was the guy you wanted quarterbacking a football team. The Hall of Famer set seven lifetime NFL passing records during his storied career. But he might not be your pick to run a circuit-board maker.
In 1984, Unitas and partners bought National Circuits for $3.5 million. The company foundered, and six years later they could only sell it for $1 million. Unitas declared bankruptcy in 1991 after he couldn't pay back loans he took to purchase National.
"The No. 1 reason athletes lose money is they invest in areas they don't really understand and not related to their expertise," says Alan Lancz, a wealth manager who works with a number of professional athletes.
Björn Borg's another good example. When he retired from tennis at the age of 27 in 1983, the Swede had won 11 Grand Slam championships. He tried to replicate his on-court success in the world of fashion with the Björn Borg Design Group; it didn't work.
The company quickly ran into liquidity problems and shut down in 1989. Borg refused to take outside financing for fear of losing control of the company. Creditors later sued Borg, but he claimed he couldn't pay because he was "more or less bankrupt."
While failed business ventures often take a wrecking ball to an athlete's net worth, they are hardly the only source of money woes. There's also the expensive cars, the jewelry, the lavish parties, the mansions. The cost of the lifestyle adds up.
In a Prince & Associates survey of sports agents, 69.1% said their athlete clients live a luxurious lifestyle. The Rothstein Kass-sponsored survey also found only 26.4% of those athletes worried about paying for the lifestyle. More should be so concerned.
"I want all the money I can spend and, brother, that's a lot," the two-time Cy Young winner Denny McClain once said. The last MLB pitcher to win 30 games in a single season would later file for bankruptcy twice.
One estimate pegs Mike Tyson's career earnings at $400 million. But the hard-punching heavyweight, who earned up to $30 million for some of his fights, declared bankruptcy in 2003. Documents from Tyson's divorces said he spent $400,000 a month on care for his pet tigers, legal fees, limos and plenty more.
''He spent enormous amounts of money that were inappropriate at best,'' a lawyer for Tyson's ex-wife told The New York Times after the bankruptcy filing. ''Part of it can be attributed to a lack of willpower."
Jack Clark was in the middle of a three-year $8.7 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1992. The power-hitting designated hitter was also filing for bankruptcy. In a filing, Clark revealed debts of $11.4 million. His assets only totaled $4.8 million.
"He had some expensive hobbies, and I think they got ahead of him," Clark's lawyer told a reporter. Clark's bankruptcy filing revealed he owned 18 cars, one a 1990 Ferrari that cost $717,000. He still owed money on 17 of them.
Another potential financial pitfall for pro players: Their big paychecks make them a target. The agents in the Prince survey say they've seen 77.5% of their athletes exploited by friends and family. They've seen 71.9% exploited by advisers.
When NHL great Bobby Orr retired in 1978, one accountant estimated the defenseman owed more money than he had. A few years later, Orr accused his agent Alan Eagleson of mismanaging his finances. The former Boston Bruin sat in the courtroom when Eagleson pleaded guilty to schemes to defraud National Hockey League Players. Justice was served, but it didn't bring the money back.
Roddick announced on his Web site that Stefanki will begin working with him during the offseason and travel with him in 2009. Jimmy Connors resigned as Roddick's coach early in the 2008 season.
Stefanki, a former player who reached a career-high ranking of No. 35, has coached John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Tim Henman. Stefanki most recently coached 2007 Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez.
Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open under Brad Gilbert and finished that year at No. 1 in the rankings. He ended the 2008 season at No. 8.
The American has gone through a series of coaches during his career, including working with Patrick McEnroe during this year's U.S. Open. Roddick has also been coached by his brother, John
Tennis star Jimmy Connors has been arrested at a college basketball game in California, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
The eight-time grand slam champion was taken into custody after refusing to leave an area near the entrance to the Thunderdome arena in Santa Barbara, campus police said.
A police official told AP that Connors was taken into custody before the start of the men's game between University College Santa Barbara and North Carolina.
No other details of the arrest were made available, but an employee at Santa Barbara County jail said that Connors had not been charged with an offense as of Saturday morning local time.
Connors is one of the all-time tennis greats, having been ranked as world number one for five consecutive years in the 1970s.
He was also renowned for his fiery temperament on the court as he battled his way to 109 career titles.
The 56-year-old returned to the mainstream tennis fold by acting as coach to American number one Andy Roddick, but their near two-year relationship ended earlier this year.
The story of Argentine tennis dates to the late 19th century, and what runs through this rich tale of overcoming long odds and longer distances is red clay.
The Argentines call it polvo de ladrillo (literally, brick dust), and it is the only surface available at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, the venerable institution that dates to 1892 and lies at the epicenter of the sport in a leafy quarter of the Argentine capital.
On a breezy day this week, the dust swirled through the spring air, leaving a gritty ocher coating on the grass and the table tops.
The next morning, in an airplane flying low over the Buenos Aires outskirts, there were scores of red rectangles visible below among the tile roofs and broad patches of desiccated plain.
But 400 kilometers, or 250 miles, to the south, in the coastal resort of Mar del Plata, the site this weekend of the most significant tennis event ever staged in Argentina, the red rectangles and brick dust are suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Inside the Estadio Polideportivo, the modest arena where, beginning on Friday, David Nalbandian, Juan Martin del Potro and Argentina will play host to Spain in this year's Davis Cup final, the surface is a luminous blue indoor carpet. Even the nearby grounds are clay-free, with three hard courts being resurfaced in order to make this hard-scrabble section of the city look worthier of one of the game's seminal competitions.
"I'm sure it is strange for you," said Guillermo Salatino, the former Argentine player who, at 63, remains one of the leading voices of the game here on radio and television. "For me, too, it seems strange being in my country and seeing a Davis Cup final played on an indoor carpet, but in reality, it reflects the natural evolution of tennis in Argentina."
Argentine players have indeed become more complete. Nalbandian, the moody longtime leader of this team, and Del Potro, the towering 20-year-old prodigy, both profess to be more at ease on faster surfaces than the clay that has long defined their nation's tennis landscape.
Now Nalbandian and Del Potro have been granted at least part of their wish: an indoor court. It will be the first time since Argentina joined tennis's premier team competition in 1923 that the country has staged a home match on anything but outdoor clay. But then perhaps it was time for a new tack, considering that Argentina has never won the Davis Cup.
The closest it has come were finals in 1981 against John McEnroe and the United States and in 2006 against Marat Safin and Russia. Both those defeats came on the road and indoors.
Now, for the first time, Argentina will be the host. Its chances are only increased because it does not have to host Rafael Nadal, the world's No. 1 player, who withdrew from Spain's team last week because of tendinitis in his knee.
Nadal's buff right [sic] bicep features prominently on the official poster for the final. But the Spaniards genuinely present are the slumping David Ferrer, two talented but erratic left-handers, Feliciano López and Fernando Verdasco, and a newcomer, Marcel Granollers.
The rub is that the Argentines would probably not have bothered to play indoors or in Mar del Plata if they had known that Nadal, the king of clay and four-time French Open champion, was not going to join them. Instead, they would likely have chosen an outdoor hardcourt, or even clay, in Buenos Aires at the new stadium at Parque Roca. But it is too late to play in the sunshine now.
"I believe Argentina is going to win," said José Luis Clerc, who along with Guillermo Vilas was the star of the 1981 team. "What happened this year is what we all needed before: a good schedule. It never happened for us, and it never happened for these kids until now."
For the first time, through the luck of the draw, Argentina has been able to play all four of the rounds at home, where it has not lost in Davis Cup play since 1998. And just when it appeared that this historic opportunity might be squandered by a lack of in-form players, Del Potro burst to prominence by winning four consecutive tournaments in the northern hemisphere summer at age 19 on his way into a year-end world ranking of nine, two spots ahead of Nalbandian.
"This is our big chance," Clerc said. "Soccer is, of course, the number one sport here, but this is the first time that people are getting really crazy here about Davis Cup. Everywhere I'm going, the question is, 'José, will you be in Mar del Plata?' People in the street, people in the bank, people everywhere."
Among other Argentine luminaries expected to attend is the new national soccer team coach, Diego Maradona, who planned to return home quickly after his debut at the helm on Wednesday in Scotland. Maradona has become one of the Davis Cup team's most visible and audible supporters, also making the trip to Moscow for the 2006 final.
Vilas, with whom Clerc has long had a chilly relationship, is also expected to make a rare appearance. That seems appropriate considering that he was born in Mar del Plata, later polishing his game as a teenager in Buenos Aires at the Lawn Tennis Club.
Vilas memorabilia is a constant presence in Argentine clubs. The trophy case at the Lawn Tennis Club contains one of the open-throated wooden rackets he used to win the United States Open at Forest Hills in 1977 as well as a yellow tennis ball he hit on his way to beating the United States in the Davis Cup in Buenos Aires in 1977 in the club's main, 4,000-seat stadium with its Wimbledon-inspired green walls and creeping ivy.
The final is in Mar del Plata because Buenos Aires does not possess an indoor arena of the requisite size and quality despite its population of about 14 million.
The Argentines' first choice was Córdoba, Nalbandian's home city, but the International Tennis Federation surprised the Argentines by choosing the alternate site of Mar del Plata instead.
Mar del Plata authorities, unlike those in Córdoba, had agreed to make their arena available immediately after the decision to prepare it for the final. There was also - this being 21st-century sport - a sponsorship concern, with Córdoba's bid being backed by a local bank, which might have been viewed as a conflict by the Davis Cup's title sponsor, the French bank BNP Paribas.
Nalbandian was not amused by the choice and initially made rumblings about boycotting the final. But he quickly thought better of it, well aware that, with his 27th birthday looming in January, he will probably never have a better opportunity to win something transcendent.
The only Argentine man to win a Grand Slam singles title since Vilas remains Gastón Gaudio at the French Open in 2004. Nalbandian reached the Wimbledon final in 2002 and won the season-ending Masters Cup after making it in as an alternate in 2005. But those achievements would pale in the collective Argentine consciousness compared with finally securing La Copa Davis.
Argentina is particularly passionate about its national teams and has had much to savor over the years, with two World Cup soccer titles, Olympic gold medals in men's basketball and soccer, and a third-place finish by the Pumas, at last year's Rugby World Cup in France.
As with Spain in 2000, the year it finally won its first Davis Cup, the long wait has only increased the pre-final buzz in Argentina. The cup, one of the grander trophies in world sport, has been making the promotional rounds and was on display at Vilas Club in Buenos Aires last week for two days.
Vilas Club opened in 1993 with Vilas as a part owner. Vilas's success generated a boom in tennis participation, increasing the number of Argentine players from less than 100,000 to close to three million.
He, like his successors, was much more than a clay-court specialist, winning the Australian Open twice on grass. But the Davis Cup exceeded his left-handed grasp. Now, 27 years later, in the absence of another great and bullish left-hander, his compatriots' chances of laying their hands on it look very good indeed.
CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Spain's David Ferrer returns the ball as team captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, back left, talks to an unidentified member of the team during a training session ahead the Davis Cup final in Mar del Plata, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Argentina will host the Davis Cup final against Spain on Nov. 21-23 in Mar del Plata.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic crushed Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 7-5 to win the Masters Cup on Sunday, underlining his credentials as a major challenger to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the top of men's tennis.
The Australian Open champion, who lost all his matches without winning a set on his debut at the season-ending shootout last year, earned $1.24 million to move to within 10 ranking points of world number two Federer.
Canada's Daniel Nestor and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic beat American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Sunday in the Masters Cup doubles final to clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking.
The Bryans, seeking their third straight title in the event, had held the top ranking and won the Olympic bronze medal in August.
But Nestor and Zimonjic have beaten the Americans three straight times and went through the tournament undefeated, taking all three of their round-robin matches and the semifinals. Zimonjic also won the mixed doubles in the Australian Open with Tiantian Sun.
AP
At the moment, Bob and Mike Bryan have a slim 31 point lead over Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic for the top honors in 2008. The winning team scores 40 points so the bottom line is whichever team wins today will go down in the record books as the season-ending No. 1 team.
For Bob and Mike Bryan there is much at stake as they would like to finish as the No. 1 team for a fourth consecutive year, which would also mean that they’ve ended five overall seasons in the top spot. The Bryans picked up their sixth Grand Slam trophy at the U.S. Open in September and kept their record of winning at least five titles a year going for a seventh straight year.
Nestor and Zimonjic, playing together as a regular team for the first time this season, have been in great form this week, dropping one set in four matches played. Their best stretch during the season was winning three consecutive titles at Queen’s Club, Wimbledon and the AMS Toronto tournament.
Nestor had played in nine year-end events in the past with former partner, Mark Knowles, winning the title in 2007. Zimonjic reached the year-end final in 2005 with Leander Paes and also qualified in 2006 as a pairing with Fabrice Santoro.
It’s likely to be a thrilling final encounter between these two talented teams who are tied at two matches apiece in previous meetings. They played three times this year and the Bryans won the AMS Rome final, but Nestor and Zimonjic won the AMS Hamburg and AMS Toronto finals.
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko shocked in-form Andy Murray to set up a surprise Masters Cup final against world number three Novak Djokovic on Saturday.
Davydenko took advantage of Murray's late finish against Roger Federer on Friday to win 7-5, 6-2, reaching his first final in four straight visits to the year-end showpiece.
He faces a daunting task against Australian Open champion Djokovic, who roared into the title match 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 against Gilles Simon and beat the Russian in the group stages.
"I was supposed to be flying tomorrow -- I'll have to change my flight!" said Davydenko.
"Maybe I have a chance in the final. I lost when we played before but it's a different situation tomorrow."
Davydenko, the world number five, is in line for the biggest pay day of his career if he wins the 4.45 million dollar tournament, while Djokovic can move within 10 points of Federer's second spot in the rankings.
NOVAK Djokovic's Masters Cup loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the most expensive of the Serb's career, costing him more than $1 million.
In control midway through the second set, the Australian Open champion stumbled to a puzzling 1-6 7-5 6-1 defeat on Thursday night.
Undefeated and assured of contesting tonight's semi-finals, Djokovic was on track for a $1,072,403 bonus to remain unbeaten if he won his last round-robin match.
Britain's Andy Murray sent defending champion Roger Federer crashing out of the Masters Cup in a classic encounter on Friday.
Murray came from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 after Federer, hampered by a back injury, saved seven match points in a gripping final set.
Federer had never failed to reach the Masters Cup semi-finals in seven straight appearances, winning four titles including the last two.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion, who was forced out of the Paris Masters with the back strain and then hit by a stomach bug, needed to beat Murray to stay in the tournament after losing to Simon.
Federer had started in imperious form, snapping up the first break point of the match.
Federer twice took treatment for his injured back and he noticeably slowed in the third set.
Earlier Simon swept aside Czech alternate Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-4 but could only qualify when Federer lost.
Be sure to check out the alternate TSN channel [ 402 on Bell] for more.
Czech alternate Radek Stepanek revealed how he had to borrow Andy Murray's socks and Novak Djokovic's racquets after he was called up at the last minute for the elite Tennis Masters Cup.
Stepanek, who replaced the injured Andy Roddick, also had to buy new contact lenses ahead of his group clash with five-time champion Roger Federer.
The world number 27 arrived in Shanghai from holiday in Thailand but explained that his tennis gear, including his contact lenses, was stuck in customs.
"I had racquets from Novak Djokovic and socks from Andy. He uses the same ones I do," Stepanek smiled.
It wasn't the perfect preparation for facing history's greatest player, but Stepanek managed to break the former number one in each set before going down 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
"That's the situation, that's how it is. So I had to deal with it," he said.
Stepanek can claim the best payday of his career for his makeshift Masters. Victory over Gilles Simon on Friday would earn him a cool 225,000 dollars for just two matches, although he cannot now reach the semi-finals.
The 30-year-old, who has amassed just two wins in 12 years on tour, admitted it was a "dream" to play the eight-man season finale.
"For me it was always a dream to play in the Masters Cup because you're in the elite eight best players in the world," he said. "It's an honour for me to be here."
Russian Nikolay Davydenko outslugged Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 6-2 in a winner-takes-all battle for a place in the semi-final of the Masters Cup on Thursday.
The 27-year-old world number five joined Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the last four, reaching the knockout stage for the second time in four appearances at the season finale for the top eight players in the world.
Defending champion Roger Federer must beat Briton Murray on Friday to claim the final place in the last four, which will otherwise go to Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Del Potro, who now heads home for next week’s Davis Cup final against Spain, held his own through some long early rallies but once he lost the first set, the long season and a toe injury looked to have caught up with him and he folded.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga earlier restored some pride by coming back from a set down to beat world number three Djokovic 1-6 7-5 6-1 in a dead rubber match in the same Gold Group.
Frank Baldock made an interesting observation: All but one of the ten players involved in Shanghai, this year, have two-handed backhands.
Reasons???
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Top seed Roger Federer was left hoping for "a miracle" on Wednesday after being laid low by illness as he struggled to stay in the hunt for the Masters Cup title.
Despite beating first alternate Radek Stepanek 7-6 6-4 in the Red Group on Wednesday, the world number two's defeat by Gilles Simon on Monday means he must now beat in-form Andy Murray to avoid an end to his quest for a fifth Masters Cup.
World number four Murray, who has a 3-2 career advantage over Federer, has enjoyed his best year on the circuit and although he has already qualified for the last four the Briton said he would be going all out for a win on Friday.
"I guess I got really lucky my match was scheduled late today and then Radek was not playing with his own racket, so that made it a little bit more lucky," the Swiss player told reporters.
"At the end of the day I still have a chance. I hope with a day of recovery I'll make a miracle happen here and get through to the semis."
Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the Masters Cup after spraining his right ankle during practice - an injury that he said did not appear to be serious.
Roddick made the announcement Wednesday, hours before he was to play Roger Federer in a Red Group match. He was replaced in the tournament by 26th-ranked Radek Stepanek, the first alternate here.
Stepanek, of the Czech Republic, could qualify for the semifinals but would have to win both of his matches and hope no more than one of the other players in his group finish with two victories.
"I called him this morning at about 10:00 or 10:30 and said, 'You should prepare like you're going to play. I'm probably 50/50 to play tonight, and I'll let you know as soon as I try to warm up," Roddick said.
Federer has defeated Stepanek 7 - 6, 6 -4.
Britain's Andy Murray reached the Masters Cup semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory Wednesday over Gilles Simon of France. Murray was at his best on the key points, breaking Simon twice in each set and fending off seven of the Frenchman's eight break opportunities. "It was one of my best matches in recent months," Murray said - quite a statement for a player who recently ran off a 14-match winning streak.
AP
The story of Argentine tennis dates to the late 19th century, and what runs through this rich tale of overcoming long odds and longer distances is red clay.
Spain's David Ferrer returns the ball as team captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, back left, talks to an unidentified member of the team during a training session ahead the Davis Cup final in Mar del Plata, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008. Argentina will host the Davis Cup final against Spain on Nov. 21-23 in Mar del Plata.
At the moment, Bob and Mike Bryan have a slim 31 point lead over Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic for the top honors in 2008. The winning team scores 40 points so the bottom line is whichever team wins today will go down in the record books as the season-ending No. 1 team.
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko shocked in-form Andy Murray to set up a surprise Masters Cup final against world number three Novak Djokovic on Saturday.
Britain's Andy Murray sent defending champion Roger Federer crashing out of the Masters Cup in a classic encounter on Friday.
Russian Nikolay Davydenko outslugged Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 6-2 in a winner-takes-all battle for a place in the semi-final of the Masters Cup on Thursday.
Britain's Andy Murray reached the Masters Cup semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory Wednesday over Gilles Simon of France. Murray was at his best on the key points, breaking Simon twice in each set and fending off seven of the Frenchman's eight break opportunities. "It was one of my best matches in recent months," Murray said - quite a statement for a player who recently ran off a 14-match winning streak.
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