TENNIS in DEPTH.

The French courts seem to have a good effect on Melanie Oudin up to now. Qualified for the Fed Cup this weekend against France, the young American didn’t waste any time on details with Pauline Parmentier and Julie Coin in Liévin. But for this first round, the surprising quarterfinalist in the last US Open wasn’t playing a Frenchwoman, but a Romanian from Team GDF SUEZ. Respectively ranked 39th and 54th in the world, Sorana Cirstea and Melanie Oudin made a rather convincing and balanced first encounter. Each one stuck with her own serve and was aggressive at the back of the court and at the net. It was a shame that these exchanges ended in opponent faults instead of winning shots. The American feels right at home with this kind of game. After losing her serve in the preceding set, she sets the counters back with a crude fault from Cirstea at the net (3-3). Oudin follows with three consecutive sets against a destabilized Romanian after only three matches in 2010. The first set went to the American (6-3, 37 minutes).

Sorana Cirstea continued to take risks in the second set. The public loved it, but her efforts don’t always pay off. Oudin stole the serve early (2-0) before laying on a second attack with a double break and

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Fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and unseeded American Taylor Dent were first-round winners Monday at the $600,000 SAP Open.

Dent topped fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor hardcourts at HP Pavilion. On the final match of the night, Berdych overcame a few saved match points by his opponent before finally putting away AMerican Wayne Odesnik, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.

Additional Day-1 wins came for Finn Jarkko Nieminen, Israeli Dudi Sela, Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

This week’s top seeds are American Andy Roddick and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Roddick is a three-time San Jose titlist (2004, 2005 and 2008).

Czech Radek Stepanek, seeded third this week, beat American Mardy Fish in last year’s finale here.

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The 22-year-old wife of tennis star Andy Roddick said being chosen for the front is “the news of a lifetime.”

The cover photo of Brooklyn Decker smiling in a yellow bikini is a departure from the more sultry look that SI had gone for the past few years, she said. She compared it to covers from the 1980s or ’90s, when Elle Macpherson won her covers with a friendly, sun-loving look.

SI keeps the cover photo a secret — even from the models — until less than 24 hours before it’s revealed. Decker said now the mad dash was on to find outfits for TV appearances that will come with the gig. (Her closet of swimsuits wasn’t right for winter, she joked.)

As for Roddick? He’s relieved the five-time SI Swimsuit model can check the cover-girl box and won’t be as nervous next February when the next edition comes out.

Decker says she is an avid sports fan, and, as a teenager in North Carolina, ran hurdles for the track team, played soccer and participated in competitive cheerleading. She has no great diet or exercise secret, she said, other than to be active and eat sensibly.

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“I felt a little old,” the 38-year-old tennis great said.

Sampras’ serve is still explosive — he had nine aces — but his return game was no match for the younger and more polished Fernando Verdasco in a charity exhibition that kicked off the SAP Open at HP Pavilion.

Making his third straight appearance at the San Jose tournament, Sampras lost 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) to the 11th-ranked player in the world. The match was over in just under an hour.

“It was a little frustrating, because I was obviously having a hard time getting to his service games,” Sampras said. “His serve is tricky for me to get a hold of. Sometimes he’d spin it in. Sometimes he’d crack the whip pretty flat, so I was sort of off balance.”

Verdasco is 12 years younger than Sampras and at an entirely different stage in his career. Verdasco, seeded second in the main draw this week, has steadily climbed the rankings, reaching No. 7 last spring after reaching the 2009 Australian Open semifinals.

Sampras, meanwhile, spends much of his time at home in Los Angeles, raising his two boys (ages 7 and 4) and trying to find something to take the place of pro tennis.

Playing exhibitions

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Dinara Safina has pulled out of next week’s Dubai Tennis Championships because of continuing problems with a back injury, the Russian said on Monday.

“Unfortunately, I will not be able to play this year because of the back injury that’s been bothering me since the end of last season,” Safina said on her official Web site.

Safina has not played since retiring injured during her fourth-round match against compatriot Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open last month.

Safina, 23, said she was hoping to come back at the $4.5-million BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., starting on March 10.

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A celebrity packed tennis lineup, featuring Andy Roddick, James Blake, Jim Courier and Vera Zvonareva come together for fifth time in the Tampa Tennis Classic benefiting Raymond James Courier’s Kids, an inner-city youth tennis program founded by Jim Courier that supports First Serve tennis programs.

The Tampa Tennis Classic will feature America’s biggest names in tennis, and will be held at the St. Pete Times Forum, Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. On the men’s side, with 60 singles career titles between them, these three are sure to wow the crowds in Tampa in a battle of the stars. Representing the women, Zvonareva is currently ranked number nine in the world and holds nine singles titles.

Raymond James Courier’s Kids and the USTA’s First Serve Program are dedicated to providing opportunities and positive life alternatives to at-risk youth. The programs offer a blend of tennis instruction, computer classes, academics and mentoring to promote positive values, healthy habits and education.

The First Serve Program is the USTA’s national initiative to introduce inner city youth to the life-long sport of tennis. The program was launched in Florida and has 4 basic components: tennis instruction, computer classes, academics and mentoring.

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Ana Ivanovic may have gone 0-3 in weekend Fed Cup play as Serbia lost to 3-2 to Russia, and proved that she really is ‘nothing but a pretty face’, but the one- time French Open champion proved she’s still a star with sponsors after signing a lifetime deal to stay with adidas clothing. The former number one player who now stands 23rd as she fights to lift after a year-long slump, will wear the German “three-stripe” gear for as long as she stays in the sport, her management team announced Monday.

Ivanovic joins Andy Murray as recipient of a recent contract with the firm. The company lost world number two Novak Djokovic when his contract expired prior to the start of the 2010 season.

Officials said that Ivanovic, 22, will become a brand ambassador for the company, the youngest-ever athlete – male of female – to sign an agreement of this length.

“I’m very proud to wear adidas for the rest of my career. adidas has helped me immensely over the last few years by providing me with great products and unique services off the court including the adidas Player Development Program,” said the Serb

“This long-term contract extension means a lot to me

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