Advantage, Russia. Argentina and Russia play in the Davis Cup final, a best-of-five showdown that begins Friday. They have met twice previously in the World Group, each winning at home. Now the Russians are on familiar ground again, and that suits them well. They have gone undefeated at home since losing to the United States in the 1995 final.

Venus Williams and Taylor Dent will represent the United States at this year’s Hopman Cup team tennis tournament. The Americans will play Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer and Martina Muller on Dec. 30. Organizers said Thursday that South Korea was forced out of the tournament after Cho Yoon-jeong was injured in a women’s practice match.

The WTA Tour wants to shorten its season, reduce the number of mandatory tournaments and give the top women more of a break after Grand Slam events. The tour said Tuesday it hopes to implement the changes for the 2009 season. The WTA board is expected to approve them in March. The proposals also call for more competition between elite players, the creation of four events that coincide with ATP…

A second trial over breach-of-contract allegations against tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams is scheduled to begin Friday. The first ended in a mistrial in December after more than two weeks of testimony. Promoters Carol Clarke and Keith Rhodes, owners of the company CCKR, allege in their lawsuit that Richard Williams, the stars’ father, committed his daughters to play in a 2001 “Battle of the…

The WTA Tour is considering legalizing in-match coaching at its tournaments, a major rule change that would be the latest bid to drum up interest in tennis. A proposal will be drawn up in the coming months, tour CEO Larry Scott said Wednesday, acknowledging “coaching from the stands is simply too difficult to police.” The issue of in-match coaching came to the fore during the U.S.

Kim Clijsters declined an offer from the Belgian Olympic Committee on Tuesday to compete in the 2008 Beijing Games — instead insisting she will retire from tennis next year. “It is a superfluous question,” she said on her Web site. “When I take a decision, I stick to it.” The 23-year-old Belgian, who has battled an assortment of injuries the past few years, returned from a wrist ailment two weeks…

James Blake’s said his decision to defer his Harvard education is working out financially, and that he’ll go back after his tennis career. After two years at the Ivy League school, Blake turned pro. “My parents really stressed education and wanted me to stay at school,” he said Monday after upsetting Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the season-ending Masters Cup tournament.

Five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams hopes to return from a left wrist injury in time for the Australian Open. “The wrist is OK, and even if it wasn’t or is (100 percent), the year is over and it’s all about training for next year,” Williams said Saturday at the WTA Championships. “I think January and Melbourne is a good date (to return).” Williams is scheduled to compete at the Hopman Cup…

If history repeats itself, David Nalbandian will lose to Roger Federer to open the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai tournament on Sunday. If history repeats itself, Nalbandian won’t mind. Last year Nalbandian and Federer opened the tournament with the top-ranked Swiss player coming away victorious in the round-robin match.

Gustavo Kuerten will play in a Challenger Series event in Paraguay next week, his first singles tournament since February. Kuerten’s last match came in Brazil’s Davis Cup event against Sweden in September. He played doubles, losing in four sets. The 30-year-old Kuerten has been sidelined with chronic hip injuries.

Andy Roddick is finally going to play at the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, and he’s bringing Jimmy Connors with him. Connors, who won the first ever professional tennis tournament played on the Chinese mainland at Guangzhou in 1980, is making his first return to China. “Playing the tournament was the top priority for me back then, so I don’t have any particular memory of this country,” Connors said.

The same two players who closed out the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup will open this year’s version of the season-ending championships. Roger Federer will meet David Nalbandian in the opening Red Group match Sunday at Qizhong Stadium. Nalbandian beat No. 1 Federer in the Masters Cup final last year. Federer, who is after his third Masters Cup title, and Nalbandian will be joined in the Red Group by Andy…

Hamilton F. “Ham” Richardson, a former U.S. Davis Cup player and Tulane University tennis star, died Sunday night. He was 73. Richardson died of complications from diabetes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, Tulane announced. After winning the National Boys Championship at age 15, Richardson captured a pair of NCAA singles titles and four Southeastern Conference singles and doubles…

Something’s missing from the WTA Championships. There are no Americans in the field for the time since the elite season-ending tournament began in 1972. Their absence was unusual but not completely surprising to the eight female European stars, who started play Tuesday in an event that features a $1-million prize.

Roger Federer will skip the opening round of next season’s Davis Cup, ruling out a showdown with Spanish rival Rafael Nadal. Switzerland and Spain will meet Feb. 9-11 in Geneva. The Swiss tennis federation said Tuesday that Federer wanted to concentrate on defending his No. 1 ranking and winning Grand Slams.