The bidding for a signed Andre Agassi item wasn't going high enough at a recent auction, so the former tennis star decided to sweeten the pot:

He was kidding ... right? He wasn't going to actually let someone look at a picture of a nude Steffi Graf on his phone. RIGHT? (Goes to online banking site and checks current account balance.)

No, of course it was all in jest. It was a funny moment and went over a lot better than those Pete Sampras jokes Agassi made last year. Although, I'm not sure how the old missus is going to like it.

Well, this is one way to make people stop talking about losing that 70-68 fifth set at Wimbledon.

At a mixed-doubles exhibition at the international team competition, the Hopman Cup, Nicolas Mahut walked onto the court wearing a women's tennis dress to match his partner, Kristina Mladenovic. The French team was facing off against an American duo consisting of the always well-dressed Bethannie Mattek-Sands and -- you guessed it -- John Isner, Mahut's foil at that legendary first-round match at the All England Club last June. His fashion choices were received with hearty laughter from everyone.

Mahut is still looking for a wild-card entry into the Australian Open. He hasn't said whether it'd be for the men's side or the women's.

Which WTA players rose and fell in 2010 and who is poised to break out in 2011? Today, we look at the list:

Falling

-- The young Portuguese player, Michelle Larcher de Brito, broke into the top 100 at 17 years old. She's a long way from that now. Ranked No. 225, she hasn't been able to capitalize on her initial breakthrough. This was somewhat predictable. Larcher de Brito has the emotions to be great, but she's also technically limited and often lacks the ability to respond to hardships on court. For now, she's in a dead end and it's a pity because her personality makes her a really spectacular player to watch.

-- Svetlana Kuznetsova won't remember 2010 as a great year. Overall she lacked motivation and her association with Loïc Courteau only lasted two months. Being No. 27 in the rankings is unworthy of her talents.

-- Dinara Safina went through a nightmare last season. The former No. 1 player in the world sunk in the ranking. After sustaining a very serious back injury, she parted

Of all the ways tennis tournaments have promoted events -- on rooftops, on boats, on bridges -- the "match" between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the middle of Doha Bay was the most innovative.

Courtesy the ATP, here are a few more pictures of the exhibition. Notice that Federer is still wearing his regular Nike sneakers and has his socks pulled just as high as usual. That's a team player.

Roger Federer didn't waste too much time in breaking out his patented Tweener shot. In his first match of the 2011 season, at the Qatar Open, Federer hit yet another between-the-legs winner and then reveled in his own greatness afterward:

The anti-Federer faction on Twitter was up in arms about the shot, mainly becase the Tweener seemed completely unnecessary. Federer had the opportunity to hit an easy forehand but passed it up in favor of going through the legs. Unlike his other Tweeners, this one wasn't borne of necessity.

After the victory, Federer was typically modest about the shot. "It's one of the best shots again of my career," he said (via AP). "One I'm going to look back on and smile, of course. It was quite fantastic."

The new season is upon us and allows us an opportunity to look back on what happened during the past year in order to get a grasp on what may happen in 2011.

Caroline Wozniacki will continue to improve

For her, 2010 was mostly about reaching No. 1 in the rankings. Even if the young Dane didn't reach any Grand Slam finals in '10, she was able, because of her steadiness and frequency of play, to oust Serena Williams from the top-spot. The ranking system was much discussed, mostly because of the comparison of the points given in Grand Slams and in other events. The WTA is now choosing to favor players who play all year long at the expense of the players who pick and choose tournaments. Grand Slams continue to be the main events though -- they're the tournaments everyone want to win and the only record that really remains after a career. Until now, Caroline hasn't won one but let's not forget that she's only 20 years old and is constantly improving.

The half-season of past champions

For years, fans of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have spoken so highly of the tennis stars that you got the impression some folks believed the tennis stars could walk on water. Turns out they weren't too far off.

[Other amazing photos: Niagara Falls without water]

Over the weekend, the two best players in the sport kicked off the 2011 ATP season by hitting balls on a raised court in the middle of Doha Bay in Qatar. The tennis season officially begins on Monday with the start of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

No word on who won the volley-heavy match, but I'd have to think the slower conditions favored Nadal, the clay-court master.

[Photo: Federer and Nadal split private jet ride]

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After Roger Federer's three-set victory over Rafael Nadal at an exhibition in Zurich, the top-ranked rivals boarded a plane for Madrid, where they will compete in a second charity match on Wednesday. (Live coverage begins at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.)

Nadal, in particular, looks thrilled. (For such a friendly guy, he sure does manage to look surly in a lot of pictures.)

Private jets, $200,000 cars, shopping in swanky Zurich boutiques, fancy European scarves; 1.3 megapixel cell phone camera. Come on, Fed, step up your game here. I'm sure Andre Agassi can point you in the right direction for photograph purchases.