Champs-Elysees Battle For Henman And Federer They fought out a final battle in Basel the week before, but that wasn't enough for ROGER FEDERER and TIM HENMAN. The pair tried to settle their differences with a game of tennis on the famous Champs-Elysees this week, but the match was eventually declared a tie as a mass of people gathered to watch, rendering the court unfit for play. "The Champs-Elysees is certainly an unusual place for a game of tennis and it crowds up pretty fast," said Tim Henman following the contest. Both he and Federer returned to their quest for Tennis Masters Cup qualification afterwards, but just came up short this time. Model Success For Blake JAMES BLAKE signed an exclusive representation contract with IMG Models this past week, and one of his first forays into the business was an exclusive fashion shoot for DEUCE Magazine, the ATP's official magazine to be published in January 2002. Blake, who posed for the DEUCE fashion story on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, joins an IMG Models client list that includes supermodels Gisele Bundchen, Tyra Banks, Scott Barnhill, Tyson Ballou and Heidi Klum. "Tennis is my primary focus and career, but I'm also excited about the options possible through an association with IMG Models," Blake says. You can pre-order a copy of DEUCE at www.atptennis.com.

UNESCO Award For Guga ATP Champions Race leader GUSTAVO KUERTEN, has been awarded with the UNESCO (The United Nations Educational Scientifical and Cultural Organization) 2001 prize for Youth and Citizenship. The Brazilian earned the award for his achievements as a tennis player, his social work with the Gustavo Kuerten Institute and for what he represents as a sportsman and a person in Brazil. "I am very happy to win this prize, especially as it comes from such an important organization as UNESCO," said Guga. Kuerten founded his own Institute on August 2000 -The Gustavo Kuerten Institute - which is presided by his mother, Alice Kuerten. They recently donated US $129,000 for institutions that assist handicapped people in Santa Catarina.

Tennis More Popular Than Soccer? - Anyone suggesting that soccer might not be the number one sport in Brazil in recent years, wouldn't be taken too seriously, but times are changing. UOL, Brazil's major web page, organized two on-line chat sessions, one about football and the other about tennis, and results showed that while the football chat prompted 20,000 questions, tennis received 28,000. Game, set, match, Tennis. And The Winner Is... Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has awarded MAX MIRNYI with the highest State Honorary Title for his achievements in sports. Mirnyi reached his first Tennis Masters Series final in Stuttgart two weeks ago.

Tournament Tales - In Paris On Tuesday of Tennis Masters Series Paris, a new record for the highest number of spectators in one day was set with 14,814 coming through the doors. The previous record was 14,760 from semifinals day of the previous year…JULIEN BOUTTER got to sample life as GUSTAVO KUERTEN's doubles partner. "At one stage, he took my arm and tried to eat it, you know, as a joke," said Boutter. "He's really cool. He's a funny guy. He's the kind of champion with class."…CEDRIC PIOLINE made an appearance on the popular France 2 TV show On a tout essaye on Wednesday evening. He played electronic table-tennis with the presenter...FABRICE SANTORO was a guest on the early morning radio talk show Bob, Isa, Martin featuring Jenny on Fun radio on Friday morning. SEBASTIEN GROSJEAN did a photo shoot for Air France Magazine.

Giving Back Andre Agassi has donated another one of his racquets while LLEYTON HEWITT gave an autographed shirt worn during his victorious US Open, to an on-line auction run by eBay in association with the ATP. The auction, designed to raise $100 million in 100 days for the NY City relief efforts, also includes a limited edition framed photo of Agassi, PETE SAMPRAS, MICHAEL CHANG AND JIM COURIER, autographed by the four Grand Slam champions. Already, an autographed Andre Agassi racquet sold for more than $4,800. A 2000 Wimbledon program signed by Pete Sampras commanded more than $4,000. All ATP auction items can be found at http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/atpauctions. Caoching Carousel David Felgate has ended his association with XAVIER MALISSE to begin a new career with management group IMG, writes Neil Harman in the Daily Telegraph. Harman reports Felgate as saying: "I went into the locker-room to wish Xavier the best. I'm helping him look for a coach and the man he'd like should be on board in time for his return to training in December."

Management Moves GREG RUSEDSKI is now being represented by Jan Felgate at IMG. Felgate also looks after the interests of Rusedski's compatriot, Tim Henman. Injury Update LLEYTON HEWITT has been struggling with a back injury in recent weeks, but his condition is improving and won't get in the way of his participation at the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney. "I'm getting massage and physio on my back every day," he said. "I've had a lot of work over the last couple of weeks, over the last few months really, before every match and on days off. It's something that I might just have to play through even if it's not a hundred percent in the Masters Cup."

Questions Please Got a question about the ATP? Let us know and we'll try to get an answer. Q: What does Tommy Haas still need to do to guarantee his place at the Tennis Masters Cup in Sydney? A: If Haas loses to Thomas Johansson in the quarterfinals, he needs Grosjean to lose in the semis to qualify. If Haas defeats Johansson, he will face Grosjean in the semis. If Haas wins that semifinal, he qualifies, or if he loses, but Grosjean fails to win the final, Haas will also go through.

Say What... "It's a unique concept and a unique tournament. For the fans, you see unbelievable matches every day, every match. You're basically seeing Grand Slam semis and finals every match and I think that's good for the fans to have that excitement." - Lleyton Hewitt explains what makes the Tennis Masters Cup so special. "This is very important for me. It means that I've had another successful year. This is what we are basically competing for the whole year, to qualify for the (Tennis) Masters (Cup) where the top eight players compete." - Yevgeny Kafelnikov talks about what it means for him to have qualified for Sydney.

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