Weekly sports agenda: ball sports, balletic sports, brute strength, and back-breaking endurance

(AFP/JOHN MACDOUGALL)

Upcoming sporting events comprise: Davis Cup and World Tour finals in tennis, the World Cup Finals draw and the Club World Cup in football, three equestrian competitions in Paris, figure skating in Tokyo, Class 1 Powerboating's title decider, surfing's Triple Crown, and the Ultraman triathlon World Championships.

Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals
November 22-29
London, UK

The O2 Arena in London hosts the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time, as the eight best singles players and eight best doubles teams in men's tennis enter round-robin tournaments in this close season decider. Roger Federer is on course for a world record-equalling fifth win, should he emerge victorious by the weekend.
http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com

Endurance: Ultraman World Championships
November 27-29
Big Island, Hawaii,USA

The very toughest endurance athletes in the world converge on the Hawaiian home of Ironman Triathlon for a three-day, three-stage race that involves swimming 10 km (6.2mi), bicycling a total of 421km (261.4mi), and then running, walking, or limping over 84km (52.4mi) to the finish line.
http://www.ultramanlive.com

Figure Skating: ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final
December 3-6
Tokyo, Japan

The International Skating Union's 2009-10 Grand Prix tour started with the Trophée Eric Bompard in Paris, France on October 15 and will have taken in competitive events in Russia, China, Japan, the USA and Canada before returning to Japan for the finals.
http://www.icenetwork.com

Football: 2010 World Cup Finals draw
December 4
Cape Town, South Africa

Seeding criteria for the seven top teams at the World Cup will be revealed two days prior after a FIFA Organising Committee meeting, and on December 4 itself the 32 national teams will at last learn who their opponents will be during the two weeks of group stage matches.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/finaldraw

Tennis: Davis Cup Finals
December 4-6
Barcelona, Spain

Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez of Spain face off against Radek Št?pánek, Tomáš Berdych, Jan Hernych, and Lukáš Dlouhý of the Czech Republic during the 2009 Davis Cup finals.
http://www.daviscup.com

Equestrian: Salon du Cheval
December 5-13
Paris, France

The internationally respected annual Salon du Cheval incorporates the International Vaulting Masters on December 4 and 5, horse and cart racing in The Paris'Cup Driving Competition on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6, the GUCCI Masters and the Rolex IJRC Top 10 showjumping championships December 10-13, and of course the multi-disciplinary Grand Prix Magazine Track throughout the duration of the Salon.
http://salon-cheval.com

Soccer: FIFA Club World Cup
December 9-19
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Six continental champions join the UAE's league champion in competing for a chunk of the $16.5million (€11.1m) prize fund. European champions FC Barcelona benefit from a seeded place in one semi-final, as do the Argentinian team Estudiantes: Al-Ahli of the UAE, New Zealand's Auckland City FC, Tout Puissant Mazembe of the DR Congo and the Pohang Steelers from South Korea are the tournament's aspiring giant killers.
http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup

Surfing: Billabong Pipeline Masters
December 8-20
Banzai Beach, Hawaii, USA

The last competitive event in the 2009 ASP World Tour is also the decider in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, three concurrent surfing Hawaiian tournaments. Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson battle for wave riding legend Kelly Slater's World Tour title, while 21-year old Australian Stephanie 'Happy' Gilmore is the current women's champ.
http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com/vtcs

Powerboating: Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, Dubai
December 10-12
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The sixth and final event in the Word Powerboat Championship series that started in April concludes by roaring across Dubai's tranquil coastline. Dubai will be of critical importance as the top two teams, Fazza and Victory 1, have pulled away from the pack but the championship itself is far from decided.
http://www.class-1.com