Sasha McEwen, 15, will be spending the next five days picking up tennis balls and handing out towels to sweaty women under the blistering sun.

Global tennis star Rafael Nadal is being lined up to play in the Auckland tennis open next month, nine years after he appeared on the backcourts as a virtual unknown.

A year on from her summer from hell and Samantha Stosur says there's no reason why she can't bounce back and win the Australian Open.

This will forever be remembered as the year in which a sporting legend was brought down. American Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and multiple Tour de France winner, was crushed by an inquiry into doping.

An Auckland summer of tennis in need of a bit of star quality has received a nice little dollop, with colourful Frenchman Gael Monfils accepting a wildcard entry into the Heineken Open.

Olivier Rochus has been handed a wildcard to next month's Heineken Open but there's a possibility that no Kiwis will feature in the main draw.

Former world No 2 Tommy Haas, who has climbed from outside the top 200 to a ranking of 21 this year, will continue his remarkable comeback at January's Heineken Open.

Giant son of Poland brings his big serve to Auckland - and maybe a Ferrer rematch.