Greg Rusedski says he will not retire and will play on in 2007, albeit with an abbreviated schedule that — don’t be surprised — could culminate in a going-away celebration at Wimbledon for the Canadian-Turned-Brit.

Unfortunately Grinning Greg has already gone away. Nearly ranked outside the Top 200, Rusedski would be lucky to gain direct entry into the lowest tour events, and will have to rely on wildcards or slough through qualifying draws, not the most glamorous of runs for a former Grand Slam finalist.

“I’m definitely playing next year,” said Rusedski, who wants to participate in Britain’s April Davis Cup match against The Netherlands. “I don’t know how much.”

Probably not much at all. Perhaps best to wait until April, then again until Wimbledon. Rusedski has also been dogged by injuries during the past year.

Tournament organizers in Vina del Mar are excited since Marcelo Rios will be coming out of retirement to play the ATP claycourt event that kicks off Jan. 29 in Chile. In fact the event will feature Chile’s “Big Three” in Rios, Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu.

“We’ll have the three historic players of national tennis in the same tournament for the first time ever, because the last time Fernando and Nicolas played with Marcelo he was in the Top 10 but they were only just starting their careers,” tournament organizer Alvaro Fillol told Radio Cooperativa. “Now, it is the other way around. Marcelo is retired but we always think the three are first-class stars.”

Except Rios is now No. 1 on the senior tour, by a wide margin. The 30-year-old Rios has not played on tour since 2004 when he played two Challengers before hanging up his career with a back injury.

It is expected to be a one-time appearance for Rios, who debuted on the senior tour in 2006, and says his back still bothers him too much to return to the tour full-time.

Also on Monday Venus Williams told jurors in a West Palm Beach courthouse that her father was never her manager, and had no authority to enter her into a contract for a 2001 exhibition against a men’s player.

The Williams are being sued for breach of contract. Since crazy tennis dad Richard Williams has always had a say and been behind the scenes of his daughters’ careers, doesn’t this seem fishy? If dad no longer has the authority to schedule his kids in events, what the hell is he doing running around signing contracts?

Richard Williams just finished FOUR DAYS of testimony, summing up that he never even committed Venus and Serena to play in the match. Someone definitely needs to be committed. Serena is set to testify Tuesday, so if you feel a wave or flicker in the fabric of reality today, just remember the Williams family is busy creating their own.

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