MARAT SAFIN made a special visit to the Airbus plant just outside of Hamburg on Monday. The plant, which is responsible for building the new A3XX Airbus airplane to be in use around 2006, offered plenty of allure for the reigning US Open champion.
The afternoon was highlighted by ride in the flight simulator, where Safin proficiently piloted an A-320 plane through the air and down for landing. He alsochecked out the assembly line, where the Russian learned that the A-320 planes are built in just
21 days at a cost of $40,000,000 each. "Do you haveany second hand models that are cheaper?" asked a wide-eyed Safin. "No,"replied an Airbus representative. "But I can put you in touch with somepeople that can help in that area." Safin, realizing that buying such aplane was a bit out of his budget, smiled and thanked her for the offer.

THERE'S A KRICK IN THAT SWING
Former ATP star AARON KRICKSTEIN made a name for himself on the circuit as one of tennis's premier teen prodigies,and that youthful talent has rubbed off on his 12-year-old niece, Morgan Pressel.
This past weekend at a U.S. Open women's qualifying event, Krickstein played the role of caddie and helped Morgan score a 2-under par70 which qualified her into the U.S. Open. Said Krickstein, who's a twohandicap himself: "She's pretty level-headed and she went out there and had a lot of fun.
She doesn't have any fear or know what pressure is about." Unfortunately, Krickstein will not be able to accompany Morgan to the U.S.Open, which begins May 31 in North Carolina, since he already made planswith Jim Courier. "We're going to go to Scotland and play a lot of golf,including St. Andrews. But I'll be watching her from there."

BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS
In a unique multi-generational tennis skillschallenge held in Hamburg on Sunday, the "Old Guard" players prevailed over a group of the "New Balls Please" kids. The two crews battled for supremacy in a variety of tennis competitions like hitting targets, doubles rallies and matches with oversized racquets and balls all in the name of the charity.
The event raised $5,000 for a local Hamburg kids cancer charity.Among the "Old Guard" players were Todd Martin, Tim Henman, Cedric Pioline,Thomas Enqvist and Carlos Moya, while "New Balls" brigade included TommyHaas, Nicolas Kiefer, Roger Federer, Jan-Michael Gambill and Magnus Norman.

ANDREA GAUDENZI met famous Italian singer Eros Ramazotti backstage at a concert in Halle....ANDREW ILIE demonstrated his trademarkshirt rip for the TV cameras upon a special request from TMS Hamburg broadcasters Premiere World....GORAN IVANISEVIC's girlfriend might have wondered what was happening if she had turned on Croatian TV channel HRT1 on Monday night.
The mighty Croat appeared on the popular show "Changing Room"and toured Split with presenter Robert Knjaz. The pair went into a wedding dress shop, and Ivanisevic tried on a wedding veil.

GETTING PUB....
American teen sensation ANDY RODDICK spent the better part ofthis past weekend visiting the media in the New York City. Highlights included interviews with over a dozen magazines and newspapers, an on-linechat with ESPN.com and a guest appearance on the CBS "Early Show", which can be seen on-line at cbsnews.com

COACHING CAROUSEL....
Russian YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV and Larry Stefanki have split. The two who had been together since the start of 1999 ended their relationship prior to the start of Hamburg....SEBASTEIN GROSJEAN is now working with French countryman and former player Pier Gauthier.

SAY WHAT....

"I lost my confidence a little bit. I had two very good years and suddenly I'm not playing so good. But I think everybody goes through a slump, so it's just a matter of time before I'm back on the track again." - Magnus Norman during an ESPN.com chat from Hamburg on his recentslump

"Both the Arnaud's look like Vikings now!" - Sebastien Grosjean in Hamburg on his countrymen Arnaud Clement and Arnaud Di Pasquale's decision to sport white beards this week.

"I don't want to make him rich." - Marat Safin explaining why he's making an extra effort to break less racquets - these days he gets fined $100 by coach Mats Wilander for each one he smashes