Has tennis become so devoid of international (or really North American) star players it has to rely on guys retired for near ten years to promote one of it’s biggest events?

I guess I don’t really need to answer that.

The first night match at tonight’s Rogers Cup Masters Series event in Toronto? An exhibition. Around 6:45, Boris Becker, set to be inducted into the “Rogers Cup Hall of Fame” (not sure what that is) will play Canadian Daniel Nestor (if you don’t know him, Nestor is one of the greatest doubles players in ATP history; heck, because of the dearth of Canadian stars, guy even got a court named after him). The match will last an hour (the press release doesn’t say how it will be structured) before a real match begins at 8 p.m.

Becker, btw, has been retired since June 1999. Nestor’s highest ATP ranking was 58, way back in ‘99. His 2008 ATP singles record? 0-0.

Break out the champagne on this one - it gonna be exciting! More on the ATP Tour silliness after the jump.

Problem is the Rogers Cup isn’t some rinky dinky tournament: It’s one of the nine biggest non-grand slam events in the world (known on the ATP Tour as a Masters Series event), and one of the few where every player is basically required to play. Another problem is weather: Rain killed Sunday’s final round of qualifying, pushing all those matches to Monday, making Monday’s exhibition essentially a court waster.

Yes, Becker is still a big draw and yes, playing against the national hero Nestor will probably be fun for the crowd. And yes, in these Masters Series events the top eight seeds get 1st-round byes, meaning they can’t play on Mondays, stopping Toronto from putting Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Roddick on.

But there was NO ONE else that could play on center court? Is this how tennis promotes itself, with a guy retired for nearly a decade and a guy who, while a fabulous doubles player, has never excelled at singles?

Maybe I don’t need to answer those questions. I need to go outside. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.