Tennis playesr: Cedric Pioline

Cedric Pioline is one of a select number of Gallic sportsmen and entertainers who find the tax regime in Switzerland more attractive than the one in their native France.

Alain Prost, Richard Gasquet, Henri Leconte and Amelie Mauresmo, as well as crooners Charles Aznavour and Johnny Halliday, and movie stars Alain Delon and Emmanuelle Beart, all now live in the land of the cuckoo clock and, as they spend less than six months a year in France, pay their taxes in Swiss francs.

A regular on the ATP Champions Tour, Pioline is a two time former Grand Slam finalist, having reached the men's singles final at the 1993 US Open and at Wimbledon in 1997, only to be beaten by Sampras both times.

A particularly stylish player, he competed for France in the Davis Cup, helping his country win the event in 1991 and 1996. With career tournament earnings of $6,921,029, from both singles and doubles, he can certainly afford good tax advice.

The 41-year-old was born in Neuilly Sur Seine near Paris but has been living for a number of years, together with his wife, Mireille Bercot, and 17-year-old son, Andrea, in Geneva.

In February this year he sold his house in the Vandoeuvres district for 6.7 million Swiss francs (£4.28m). Having bought the sizeable 2,3062 m home only four years ago for 4.35 million francs (£2.73m), it would seem he plays the property game as successfully as he plays tennis.