Tennis: Britons handed tricky matches

GREG RUSEDSKI will have to overcome the gifted South African Wayne Ferreira in the opening round if he is to make progress in the United States Open, which starts on Monday.

Ferreira, it may be remembered, eliminated Britain's other leading player Tim Henman, in the second round at Flushing Meadow last year, when Rusedski became the first Briton since Fred Perry to reach the men's singles final. Rusedski was defeated by Australia's Pat Rafter, and the pair are projected to meet in the quarter finals this time. Rafter, the No 3 seed, has drawn a first-round match against the talented but erratic Moroccan Hicham Arazi.

Henman, seeded No 13, also has a potentially difficult opening match against Scott Draper, an Australian left-hander who defeated Rafter en route to winning the Stella Artois championship at Queen's Club in June. Henman, determined to make amends for his early elimination last year, is projected for a possible fourth-round match against Petr Korda, the No 4 seed and Australian Open champion. Henman defeated a half-fit Korda in straight sets in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The 1996 Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek, the could be waiting for Henman or Korda in the last eight.

Henman is in the same half of the draw as the Chilean Marcelo Rios, the No 2 seed. Rusedski, the No 6 seed, may have to account for Pete Sampras, the Wimbledon champion and world No 1 in the semi-finals if he is successfully to defend the 653 ranking points he gained by advancing to the final a year ago. The American public, however, will be looking forward to Sampras and Andre Agassi, the No 8 seed, advancing to meet in the quarter-finals.

In the women's singles, Britain's Sam Smith, who defeated Conchita Martinez to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon, is drawn to play Sweden's Asa Carlsson in the opening round. If successful the Essex player could face Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the fourth seed, in the second round.

The top half of the draw presents intriguing possibilities, with potential quarter-finals pitting Martina Hingis, the defending champion, against Monica Seles, who defeated the Swiss teenager at the French Open, and Jana Novotna, the Wimbledon champion, against her perennial rival, the former champion Steffi Graf.

Venus Williams, who was defeated by Hingis in last year's final, carries America's hopes of a home grown champion along with Lindsay Davenport, the No 2 seed; the pair could meet in the semi-finals. To achieve this Williams may have to overcome the powerful Mary Pierce in the fourth round. Davenport may play Nathalie Tauziat, the Wimbledon finalist, in the fourth round.

Anna Kournikova, who was unable to play at Wimbledon after spraining a thumb in the course of beating Graf at the Direct Line Insurance Championships at Eastbourne, could play Sanchez Vicario in the fourth round.