TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Murray appears to have more money than sense after it has been estimated he is paying £100,000 insurance per year for his new 196mph Ferrari F430.

In 2007, Murray said his most indulgent purchase was a Playstation 2 but times have changed and given his bank balance, you can’t blame the 22-year-old for wanting to buy a supercar after passing his driving test earlier this year. The problem is, based on Murray’s age and lack of driving experience, he’s an insurer’s worst nightmare.

The Scot purchased the second-hand 4.3litre engine Ferrari for £100,000, allegedly to cheer himself up after splitting with long term girlfriend, Kim Sears. Murray may have saved £50,000 by getting it second-hand but his annual insurance will likely be the same price as the car itself.

AA Insurance, which asked its panel of more than 20 insurers to estimate a quote, said: “Most wouldn’t touch it. And those who would are likely to charge £100,000 a year.”

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The United States will face Serbia on an indoor clay surface in Belgrade for its first-round Davis Cup match next year.

The venues for six of the eight first-round World Group matches on March 5-7 were announced Monday by the International Tennis Federation.

The Serbia-U.S. match will be played at the 20,000-seat Belgrade Arena.

Defending champion Spain has been granted an extension until Jan. 11 to choose the venue for its opener against Switzerland, which could pit Rafael Nadal against Roger Federer.

France will play Germany in Toulon, Russia hosts India in Moscow and Sweden faces Argentina in Stockholm – all on indoor hard courts. Chile will host Israel on outdoor clay in Coquimbo.

Croatia will play Ecuador in Varazdin on an indoor surface still to be decided. The venue and surface for Belgium’s home match against the Czech Republic will be confirmed by the end of the year.

The ITF said all venues are subject to a site inspection and final confirmation by the international body.

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With my apologies to Julie Andrews and the Sound of Music.

1. Rafa and Roger embracing and crying,

Delpo keeps winning without hardly trying,

Murray’s frustrations taken out on his strings,

These are a few of my favourite things…..

2.Backhands and forehands, drop shots and aces,

Melanie’s sneakers with bright coloured laces,

Nicolay soaring as if he had wings,

These are a few of my favourite things…..

When the Hawk-eye says the ball’s in

and the point is replayed,

I simply remember the rain in New York

and the reason the match was delayed.

3.Masha and Ana, Serena and JJ,

Looking ahead to a gigantic pay-day,

And the gossip surrounding their numerous flings,

These are a few of my favourite things…..

4.Roddick and Nole compete to be funny,

Andy wins out by wedding a bunny,

Clijsters returns and Vania sings,

These are a few of my favourite things…..

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Justine Henin will join a top-class women’s field which features nine of the world’s top 10 players including Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva and Australia’s world number 13 Samantha Stosur in a tournament which runs from January 10-16.

Henin, who held the number one ranking for 117 weeks, announced her comeback to professional tennis in September after 15 months on the sidelines.

Her first tournament will be in Brisbane in the first week of January.

She was also granted one of four discretionary wild cards to the Australian Open at Melbourne Park next month.

“The women’s draw is very impressive and it will be great to get some tough, competitive matches at the Medibank International Sydney before heading to Melbourne,” said Henin, a three-time winner in Sydney in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

“I have a lot of happy memories of Sydney and have won the title three times, so I am looking forward to returning in January as part of my preparation for the Australian Open.”

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JOHN Newcombe believes Samantha Stosur could give the Australian Open ”a shake” in what he rates as one of the most open women’s fields in years.

Stosur boasts a career-high ranking of 13 following a breakthrough year in 2009. The Queenslander backed up her French Open semi-final appearance with a first WTA tournament win in Tokyo.

No Australian, male or female, has won the national championship since an unseeded Chris O’Neil scored a surprise win in 1978. Newcombe believes Stosur is Australia’s best chance of finally breaking the drought.

”Sam is the only one that has shown during the year that she can do well here,” Newcombe said. ”That’s a big part of the equation, her self-belief.

”She could give it a shake. It’s pretty open there in the ladies at the moment. She might be able to snake her way through. She knows she can compete with the very best, so with the home crowd, you never know.”

Stosur’s career flatlined while she battled a debilitating bout of lyme disease, but she battled back and spoke of a new-found confidence after lifting her ranking to the cusp of the top 10.

”I’m close to top 10 now – anyone up around that mark has a chance of winning [the Australian Open],” Stosur said during the week.

The 25-year-old will go into the year’s opening grand slam as the top-ranked Australian, while another local favourite, Alicia Molik, is sweating on a discretionary wildcard from Tennis Australia after she was bundled out of the wildcard play-offs.

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Nick Lindahl has defeated Bernard Tomic in a five-set thriller at Melbourne Park to win the AO Play-off and a wildcard into Australian Open 2010.

Lindahl saved five match points in the fourth set to overcome a determined Tomic in front of a large crowd, 6-7(6) 6-1 4-6 7-6(8) 6-3.

After the match a relieved and elated Lindahl told the media that he would prepare differently for his second tilt at the Australian Open.

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Sport has received a black mark against it because of the actions of one of its stars. The cynical interpreters of Tiger’s actions have already lumped all professional athletes together into their category as degenerates. His actions have reinforced their belief that like so many before him, they can’t keep their pants zipped or their minds out of the gutter. Golf will have a difficult time in rebuilding its image as a ‘gentlemens’ game, and those players who are squeaky clean must feel appalled and angry at their leader. The President’s Cup and Ryder Cup team members must feel particularly soiled by their association with Tiger. He was allowed into their inner circle, to meet an socialize with their wives and families, while all the time concealing his double life. The rivalries with Phil, Sergio, Steve and Jim can never be the same in the future. Golf will never have a Federer/Nadal duo! It’s unique because of the moral quality of the two combatants. It is a rivalry built on respect, admiration and friendship. We as fans are privileged to be able to witness their contests on the tennis courts around the world, and whether Roger or Rafa wins, it’s Tennis that can raise it’s proverbial head high, and be proud.

Given Roger Federer’s domination of the decade, it’s almost frightening to contemplate what other records he would have set had it not been for the emergence of Rafael Nadal, with whom the Swiss shares one of tennis’ greatest-ever rivalries. Since winning their first meeting at the Sony Ericsson Open in 2004, Nadal has established a 13-7 head-to-head lead over Federer, with 16 of those 20 meetings coming in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam championship finals.

Different in so many ways, they nonetheless share an unparalleled will to win that has made for some riveting clashes – none more so than what many fans rate as the greatest match ever, the 2008 Wimbledon final.Nadal has held Federer’s number in three Roland Garros finals, and it looked as though the Swiss would always get his revenge on grass, having denied Nadal in the 2006-07 Wimbledon finals. That was until a rain-interrupted clash that finished in near-darkness at 9:15 p.m., when Nadal prevailed 9-7 in the fifth set of a four-hour, 48-minute match to dethrone the five-time defending champion.

They have played just twice since that epic encounter, with Nadal once more besting Federer over five sets in the 2009 Australian Open final and the Swiss defeating Nadal on clay for just the second time in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open a few months later.

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Ana has been named as the Hottest Female Athlete, following a poll of visitors to sportsnet.ca, a leading North American sports website.

The 22-year-old finished ahead of 2nd-placed Paraguayan javelin thrower Leryn Franco and 3rd-placed Australian mountain biker Niki Gudex.

The accolade is the latest in a long line of awards recognising Ana’s beauty. Last year she won a reader poll in Die Bild, the biggest-selling newspaper in Europe, for “most beautiful body”; Canadian daily newspaper named her “best looking” female tennis player, while The Age newspaper in Australia listed her as the “best-looking tennis player of all-time” two years ago”

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