NEW YORK (Reuters) - Baseball star Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees and his wife, Cynthia, have broken up, according to the New York Daily News, amid media speculation that he has been seeing pop star Madonna.


Cynthia Rodriguez, 34, has gone to the Paris apartment of rock star Lenny Kravitz, 44, the Daily News said, but Kravitz released a statement saying the two are just friends.

"There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself," Kravitz said. The singer said Cynthia went to his home "to escape from everything happening in New York City."

Cynthia and Alex Rodriguez's five-year marriage has been on the rocks in recent months, even though they expressed joy at the birth of their second daughter in recent weeks, according to the Daily News.

Over the past few days, numerous celebrity magazines and tabloids have been reporting that Madonna's marriage to film director Guy Ritchie is on the rocks, and some of those stories have linked her to Rodriguez, 32, a major sports star who appears headed for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Madonna's spokeswoman has denied the reports that the pop star's marriage to Ritchie is nearing divorce.

Even Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner has addressed the swirling talk when he blamed the team's poor play on "outside distractions," the Daily News reported.

Reuters/Nielsen
© Copyright 2008 Reuters.

Photo:
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (R) watches an evening tennis match with his wife Cynthia at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, September 1, 2007. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine