MONTE CARLO TENNIS CLUB

TAX H[E]AVEN

Yachts the size of tennis courts sit side-by-side in the harbour, and Ferraris compete for parking spaces in Casino Square.

In a Gucci shop window, a handbag sits alone, the owners knowing that a single sale will net them a fortune.

This is Monte Carlo - playground to the rich, home to the famous, and this week the venue for the most glamorous of all of the nine Tennis Masters Series tennis tournaments.

For the next seven days, the men will trade forehands in front of HRH Prince Albert against a stunning backdrop of mountains and the azure of the Mediterranean.

Once play is over for the day, the teenage and twenty-something millionaires will enjoy the sights and sounds of a tiny Principality that you can walk across in half an hour.

With matches to play the next day, most will settle for dinner at one of Monte Carlo's wealth of restaurants. For those with more expensive tastes, the opportunities are endless.

Exclusive nightclub Jimmyz is the place to rub shoulders with the stars, but a glass of water costs more than $30 cdn.

If you have a weakness for gambling, Monte Carlo is a potentially hazardous place to be. The winner at this week's tournament will walk off with $500,000, but a trip to the Casino could double or lose that within minutes.

For many, this is the place they call home.

At last count, more than 50, past and present players, were known to have a residence in the Principality. Its tax-free status is motivation in itself, but Monte Carlo is also the perfect place for tennis players to train, and rest.

Getting around isn't a problem either. With security cameras staring down from every street corner, it's one of the safest places in the world.

"I like to take a walk close to the marina, to see the beaches and walk through the formula one tunnel," says Ljubicic.

"I think that I am the perfect type of person to live in Monte Carlo because it's a quiet place and I'm a quiet person. It's not a place with 300 discotheques."

But it is the place to gaze at the stars.

Ship-hands, accountants, bar-tenders and various ex-pats head into the hills each week for a kickaround on Monaco Football team's training pitch, and for a few minutes, life here seems quite normal.

That is until Michael Schumacher trots out onto the pitch for the opposition.