GERMAN TEAM HITS THE STREETS
The German team in the ARAG ATP World Team Championship consisting of TOMMY HAAS, NICOLAS KIEFER, DAVID PRINOSIL and team captain Carl-Uwe Steeb made an unusual appearance on the streets in Dusseldorf, Germany on Sunday.
The team was travelling in one of the tournament cars when they suddenly stopped on Konigsstrasse, the mainshopping street in Dusseldorf, got out and started playing tennis in the streets.
Provisional tennis nets were quickly set up and the trafficstopped. "It was chaos, but it was really fun. There were many people and wecreated a big traffic jam," said Nicolas Kiefer. People walking by stopped and applauded the players.
At the end of the short session one wildly hitball slammed into coffee cups at a near by café. "People looked a bitstrange at us. But it was a nice atmosphere," added Kiefer.

TOURNAMENT TALES
IN ST. POELTEN....Austrians WERNER ESCHAUER, MARKUS HIPFL and STEFANKOUBEK were on hand for the tournament fanfest, which took place in front ofthe St. Poelten City Hall on Saturday. They were joined by Austrian downhill skier Stephan Eberharter, who signed autographs and played tennis with some sponsors and members of the city council. WTA player Barbara Paulus drew the names of the lucky winners of signed skiis and other prizes that were wonthat day.

IN DUSSELDORF....
Following his successful start to the ARAG ATP World Team Championship on Monday, PETE SAMPRAS met with some team members of the American Football team Rhein Fire from Dusseldorf yesterday.
Sampras participated in a little football practice with the team members on the claycourts at the Rochusclub, and even threw a "spiral" right on target fromhalf-court. The football stars, impressed by Sampras' technique, includedplayers on loan from the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants.

GETTING PUB....
Writes Richard Jago of England's The Guardian on JUAN CARLOS FERRERO's win over Nicolas Lapentti in the third round at Hamburg: "He islight, speedy and attacks when you least expect it. ... On another occasion in the first set when the Ecuador player had a break-back point, Ferreroarrived at each ground stroke so quickly that Lapentti would have needed anextra tramline each side to play the ball away from him."....The May 28, Sports Illustrated profiles eccentric Australian ANDREW ILIE. Offers the magazine's Jon Wertheim: "Owing to his no-way-in-the-world shot making, his breezy relationship with conventional strategy and his displays of emotion,the 42nd-ranked Ilie is emerging as a cult hero of men's tennis."....ANDRE AGASSI graces the pages of the latest Rolling Stone in a full page pictureas part of their Sports Hall of Fame section.

WITH HONORS....
US Open champion MARAT SAFIN was named 2000 "Newcomer of theYear" Tuesday at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards held in Monaco.JUAN CARLOS FERRERO was also nominated for the award.

BABY TALK....
JIRI NOVAK and his wife, Katerina, are the proud parents of twobaby twins, son Jiri jr. and daughter Katka, who were born May 23. The twins join their first child, 3-year-old son Jakob, in the family....MARCELORIOS and his wife, Juliana, are expecting the arrival of their firstdaughter in June. Said Rios: "I'm not sure if I'm playing Wimbledon yet. My wife is expecting a baby, a girl, around that time, so I'd like to stay athome in Chile and spend time with them."

STATS ALL, FOLKS....
thru last week reveals JAN-MICHAEL GAMBILL leads in aces with 350; JUAN BALCELLS is tops infirst serve pct. (71%); ANDY RODDICK is the king of serves as he's the front runner in three categories -- first serve points won (81%), second serve points won (58%) and service games won (90%); TIM HENMAN is the bestin return first serve points won (36%); JUAN CARLOS FERRERO leads in return games won (37%); and, PATRICK RAFTER has been the most opportunistic inbreak points converted (51%).

COACHING CAROUSEL....
ANDREW ILIE and former Argentine player Horacio de laPena have teamed on a trial basis.

INJURY UPDATE....
MARTIN DAMM made his 2001 ATP debut this week in St.Poelten playing in doubles with Cyril Suk. The 29-year-old from the Czech Republic who finished last season No. 79, has been off the circuit since undergoing right knee surgery to repair torn ligaments on November 3....JUAN CARLOS FERRERO with drew from Dusseldorf this week suffering from severemuscle strains in both groins. "I started to feel pain in my groins last Friday when I played in the quarter finals in the Tennis Masters Series Hamburg tournament," said Ferrero, who's 30-7 overall and 22-2 on clay thisyear. "From then on it has gotten worse and worse." His coach, Antonio Martinez, said Wednesday to El Mundo Deportivo that his star player is improving and would be ready to go for Monday.

QUESTIONS PLEASE....
Got a question about the ATP? Let us know and we'll try to get an answer.
Q:  When was the last time a South American was seeded No. 1 at Roland Garros?
A: 1959, when Chilean Luis Ayala was the No. 1 seed. Ayala lost that year in the semifinals.

SAY WHAT....

"It's always nice to win a match, I'll take any win against anybody rightnow. I have been struggling a little bit with my confidence lately. It'svery embarrassing to play on clay when you're not in shape. This week I have found my rhythm again." - Yevgeny Kafenikov in Dusseldorf after defeating Jan-Michael Gambill for his second clay win in seven matches.

"I'm very, very happy with the way I'm playing. I feel very relaxed and then the results take care of themselves. I usually don't play as well as this coming back from a break." - Patrick Rafter in Dusseldorf playing his first tournament since appearing in Davis Cup in April