The top 10 men's seeds, along with 4 of the top women in competition here at the PACIFIC LIFE OPEN took time off Friday night to raise funds for Tsunami Relief.  ROGER FEDERER, ANDRE AGASSI, LLEYTON HEWITT, MARAT SAFIN, ANDY RODDICK, GUILLERMO CORIA, CARLOS MOYA, TIM HENMAN, PARADOR SRICHAPHAN, DAVID NALBANDIAN, DANIELA HANTUCHOVA, KIM CLIJSTERS, AMELIE MAURESMO and ELENA DIMENTIEVA helped raise more than $18,000 for UNICEF.  The event was the brainchild of FEDERER, who saw others stepping up to help after the disastrous tidal wave hit so many parts of Asia.

 "I was ready to basically play any match, any exhibition match, so I thought I had kind of an idea, and I saw where many players did many things themselves with the tournaments, auctioned rackets, shirts, everything. But I thought that maybe we should do something together. I spoke to one of the ATP guys and told him maybe we should do that in the future and they said it was a brilliant idea and they started to work extremely hard."

The event was a welcome relief for the fans as well.

Who knew these players had such a sense of humor and entertainment?  Who knew they actually got along?  It was quite a pleasure to see.

 The evening got started with NALBANDIAN matched up against CORIA.  They played a 7-point tiebreak with NALBANDIAN winning, but along the way you saw some amazing spins and between the leg shots from both players. 

 HENMAN and SRICHAPHAN followed, with PARADOR showing some amazing defensive gets in one stretch, not allowing HENMAN to get a smash by him.

 The highlight of the evening was during the SAFIN/RODDICK match. They each took swings at volleys with the wrong end of the racket, looking to hit "home runs" out of the stadium during warm-up.   Neither came close.

 MARAT SAFIN is the clown prince of the tennis tour, and it was on full display Friday night.  He started off by offering to donate $100 if he made an ace.  RODDICK and LARS GRAFF, the chair umpire, conspired to prevent that from happening.  ANDY followed with an offer to double or nothing.  And the fun was underway.

 KIM CLIJSTERS and DANIELA HANTUCHOVA got up from the bench and displaced the ball girls at SAFIN'S end of the court.  In fine display, they each extended their arms up high displaying a ball, and awaiting SAFIN'S request to throw it.  MAURESMO and DEMENTIEVA took position behind RODDICK.

 Meanwhile SAFIN was taunting RODDICK'S "fastest serve" on the tour, whilst trying to best his top speed of 136mph.  He could only muster 130.

CLIJSTERS and HANTUCHOVA were in overload behind SAFIN shuttling tennis balls back and forth to distract the Russian and steal some of the spotlight from the adoring fans.  It was entertainment in full swing.

 Later RODDICK and SAFIN were teamed up to take on a couple of amateurs-some movie producers from Hollywood.  That's when the fun really started.  SAFIN hiked his shorts way up, donned glasses and a funny cap and pranced around the court to the crowd's delight.  When RODDICK followed suit, it was like a MARTIN and LEWIS routine, with SAFIN doing a fine JERRY LEWIS impression.  DEMENTIEVA and HANTUCHOVA were brought in to hold hands of the two clowns, as a handicap.  SAFIN proceeded to slowly lead ELENA off the court in a pantomime that would have made CHAPLIN proud.  On return, he made an adult gesture that might have found the edge of the limits of entertainment, but at the watchful eyes and warnings of CLIJSTERS and MAURESMO, he calmed down and brought the schtick in for a smooth landing.  Hilarious.

 It would have been hard for CHRIS ROCK to follow that act, but it was the task of LLEYTON HEWITT and CARLOS MOYA.  HEWITT seemed to be entertaining AGASSI and FEDERER the most, as they couldn't control their laughter watching him play.  He and MOYA did a nice bit, gently volleying to and from each other as each player got closer to the net.  Finally MOYA volleyed to and from himself ending the humorous display.

 The evening concluded with AGASSI taking on FEDERER.  ROGER FEDERER seems like the quiet, shy type, along the likes of BJORN BORG or PETE SAMPRAS.  But AGASSI seemed to pull him out of his shell.  ANDRE, who has lost to FEDERER twice this year, taunted ROGER'S game, as play was going on.  "More topspin, man...What, do you wish you were playing in Switzerland...I just can't miss...Somebody's getting mad...You know if you got a haircut, you wouldn't have to wear that thing(referring to FEDERER'S white headband/kerchief)...Everything is under control. This guy is the most overrated player of all time." If only they would do this during competition!  FEDERER replied with some amazing shots, and some trash talking of his own. 

 Meanwhile, CLIJSTERS, MAURESMO, HANTUCHOVA and DEMENTIEVA took to the stands with big green buckets to collect cash for UNICEF.  Talk about giving time for charity, these girls went to work. 

 Back on the court, AGASSI and FEDERER were a joy to watch, and those on hand wanted it not to end.  But it did, with AGASSI winning the mock drama 11-9, despite admonition's from ROGER that ANDRE should let him win.  If only it were like that next Sunday.

 If only tennis players were to allow this side of themselves to show through more often.  At times, the game can be so mechanical.  The players are all so good, and the shots all so precise.  To see them have this kind of fun, and to get along in this way was indeed a welcome relief, and a whole lot of fun!

The PACIFIC LIFE OPEN this year is a remarkable showcase of men’s tennis with 47 of the world’s top 50 players competing.  There is a consensus that ROGER FEDERER is by far and away the best, but there are 3 players everyone concedes are in a class to challenge him, those being ANDY RODDICK, MARAT SAFIN and LLEYTON HEWITT.  ANDRE AGASSI has to be included in that group, although he has lost to him twice this year.

 And I would look for IVAN LJUBICIC and GUILLERMO CORIA to contend for the title.

 LJUBICIC is on top of his game coming off wins over RODDICK and AGASSI in Croatia’s victory over the US in DAVIS CUP just last weekend.  He has been in 4 finals this year, 3 of those resulted in losses to ROGER FEDERER.  But LJUBICIC is not fazed.  He comes into this tournament seeded 13^th, and he has a potential collision with FEDERER in the 4^th round, if he is to get through here.

 CORIA, seeded 5^th, has a difficult match tonight against PARADOR SRICHAPHAN, the 31^st seed.  That should be some contest.  CORIA has performed well at this tournament, getting to the quarterfinals last year, before being sent home by ANDRE AGASSI.

 AGASSI is seeded 9^th, and could have a rematch of that classic in the 4^th round later this week.

 Meanwhile, MARAT SAFIN had a struggle but did get through his 2^nd round match against JARKO NIEMINEN, winning 7-5 in the 3^rd set.  On Friday SAFIN spoke to the press about how difficult the first match play is here, no matter whom the opponent is, and he is lucky to survive.  He may next face TAYLOR DENT, with an eventual match up against number 6 seed TIM  HENMAN in the quarters, if all goes to form.

 On the women’s side, 6 of the top ten seeds are Russian, and an unknown Russian ousted number 2 seed AMELIE MAURESMO.  Seeded number 30, EVGENIA LINETKAYA beat the French woman in 3 sets and will next face KIM CLIJSTERS, who came into this tournament in the unfamiliar position of being unseeded, after taking a long time off with an injured wrist.  CLIJSTERS beat number 16 seed SHINOBU ASAGOE in her first match, and ANNA CHAKVETADZE in her next contest.  

LINDSAY DAVEENPORT, the favorite coming in, after winning in Dubai last weekend, already has breezed through her first challenge, beating SESIL KARANTACHEVA easily Sunday.  KARATANCHEVA, at 14, took the tournament by storm last year, getting into a 3^rd round match with MARIA SHARAPOVA, and doing some trash talking before the match, about how she was going to kick her ass, or some derivative thereof.  The young Czech has mad skills, and has even groomed some of her media savvy, but is not yet ready to dethrone thee number 1 seed.

 DAVENPORT has a quarterfinal match with NATHALIE DECHY of France if all goes according to plan.

 You can watch the action on ESPN or go to pacificlifeopen.com for ticket information and live updates.  If you are a tennis fan, you should be in Indian Wells this week!