Melbourne - Roger Federer will begin his Australian Open tuneup on Wednesday at the AAMI Classic, ignoring bookmaker chatter that his Grand Slam title hopes are under siege from newcomer Andy Murray.

The Swiss takes on old foe Carlos Moya in the eight-man event which runs through Saturday, providing the field with top practise for the Open which begins on Monday.

The fact that Murray and Federer are tipped at an equal 3.50 dollars (one dollar earns 3.50 back) to win the Open by Australian oddsmakers took the Swiss by surprise.

Melbourne - Marat Safin heads to the Australian Open with minimal preparation after withdrawing from the AAMI Classic tune-up event starting on Wednesday.

London  - The ATP has again stepped outside of tennis to find a leader, Monday appointing former Nike marketer Adam Helfant as ATP executive chairman and president.

The 44-year-old will take the dual positions formerly held by ex- Disney Europe boss Etienne de Villiers, who stepped down under player pressure at the end of December.

The ATP decision overlooks ATP Asia-Pacific executive Brad Drewett, a former player with close links to the players as tournament director of the Shanghai Masters Cup for the past five editions.

Helfant, an MIT and Harvard Law graduate, served for a dozen years at Nike, and before that at the National Hockey League in North America.

Madrid - Educated at the best universities, young, brilliant, family-loving and convinced of the power of public relations: such is Adam Helfant, the new strongman of men's tennis.

Adam S Helfant, 44, a US citizen and a former employee of sports gear giant Nike, will have to push into oblivion the failed experiment around the South African Etienne de Villiers, who quarrelled with a large portion of the players, including the top ranking players, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and the Swiss Roger Federer.

"Both support him, and that is good," a man who often talks to Nadal and Federer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa with reference to Helfant.

London  - Adam S Helfant, a former employee of the sports gear giant Nike, is the new boss of global men's tennis, the ATP confirmed Monday.

Helfant, 44, "will begin his role with the ATP immediately and will be based in London," the ATP said in a statement.

The appointment of Helfant, marks the end of the controversial three-year term of South African Etienne de Villiers, who led the ATP in opposition to key players like Swiss former world number one Roger Federer and his successor, Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Sydney - Dinara Safina carried momentum from last week's Hopman Cup final into her start at the Medibank International on Monday with a 6-2, 6-1 opening defeat of Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Safina, who lost the teams final in Perth alongside her brother Marat Safin to Slovakia, dropped the first game against 18-year-old Cirstea but then opened up her firepower to sweep to victory.

"When I'm playing my best I know I can beat everybody," said the winner, who next takes on compatriot Vera Dushevina, who crushed Aussie wild card Emelyn Starr 6-0, 6-1.