In addition to the State Farm Women's Classic, On The Line is pleased to announce that we will be On The Spot at Scottsdale for an additional week to cover the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic.

The ATP tour must now share the limelight (and sunlight) with the WTA at the beautiful Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort. The tournaments join the growing trend of the two tours competing in back-to-back weeks in the same city. The men will have a tough act to follow. Most of the top women players are coming out for the inaugural State Farm tournament and the ladies will also be competing for more prize money.

However, the men's field is not lacking in name recognition. As with the ladies, the tournament is managed by IMG and their client list alone could provide a star-studded draw. As noted in the State Farm preview, there are certainly many other amenities to lure players to the desert climate besides providing a warm-up for the first Tennis Masters Series (formerly Super 9) tournament of the year at Indian Wells the following week.

Andre Agassi heads the field and is, by far, the prohibitive favorite to take the Franklin Templeton title. With conditions nearly identical to his hometown of Las Vegas, Agassi's game thrives on the hard courts of Scottsdale. Agassi has won this tournament three times, even in years when his ranking was much leaner than his body. This will be Agassi's first tournament appearance since the Australian Open and first official tennis since his physically taxing journey to Zimbabwe. Following Davis Cup, Agassi pulled out of a scheduled appearance at the Sybase Open in San Jose with a sore back. Fans will definitely not be looking for a repeat of Agassi's injury withdrawal during his semifinal match at last year's Franklin Templeton. The injury robbed the tournament of a high-profile final and likewise kept him out of Indian Wells and factored into his early exit at Key Biscayne last year. Additionally, media attention will be drawn to Agassi's personal life as this is also his first tournament since widespread reports of his engagement (and reported June wedding) to Steffi Graf. Having survived several years of "Brooke" watch, I anticipate the focus will once again be evenly split between Agassi's on-court appearances as well as who may or may not show up in his player box.

A number of players on the ATP's "injured reserve" list are also scheduled to make appearances after fairly long absences from the court. Patrick Rafter is scheduled for his second 2000 tournament appearance in Scottsdale after an anticipated debut in Delray Beach the week before. Rafter has been out with a shoulder problem since the US Open and made an unsuccessful comeback attempt in doubles at the Australian Open earlier this year. Two other former #1 players, Marcelo Rios and Carlos Moya, are looking to start their comebacks after being sidelined since November of last year. Greg Rusedski will also hope to continue his on-court success since returning to the tour earlier this month.

Always a strong presence in Scottsdale, the "Spanish Armada" will again find themselves landlocked at the Franklin Templeton. In addition to Moya, Albert Costa, Alex Corretja, Francisco Clavet, and Juan Carlos Ferrero will try to regain some of the glory their homeland enjoyed in recent years. Costa is a three-time Scottsdale quarterfinalist, while Clavet (the elder statesman at age 31) will be making his fourth consecutive appearance at the Franklin Templeton. However, all eyes may turn to the youngster of the group, Ferrero, who is being dubbed "the future of Spanish tennis." Ferrero, just 20 years old, is currently #11 in the 2000 "Champions Race" and extended Nicolas Kiefer to three sets before falling in the Dubai final this month.

Speaking of young upstarts on the ATP Tour, Lleyton Hewitt is looking to improve his 1999 Franklin Templeton performance one step further. As a qualifier last year, Hewitt marched all the way to the final knocking off countrymen Mark Woodforde and Patrick Rafter in impressive fashion along the way. Hewitt's third set comeback fell short and he lost the title to Jan-Michael Gambill. One thought this might be the start of something for Gambill (stunning Sampras in the second round and earning a "victory" over Agassi's withdrawal) however it was the Australian's career which has taken off. Despite his two titles this year, it appears Hewitt will just miss being seeded in Scottsdale. One thinks this fiery teenager does not mind the "floater" role, he might even relish it.

Other Top 20 players scheduled to appear include Magnus Norman, Nicolas Lapentti, Tim Henman, and Sebastian Grosjean.

Look for reports from the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic beginning the week of March 6th.