Olympic News Service

The wait is almost over as the Sydney 20000 Olympic Tennis event is now less than 24 hours away. The bottom half of both the men's and women's draws will raise the curtain.

Feature matches include those of local heroes Mark Philippoussis (seeded 11) and Patrick Rafter (13), Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten (2) and Swede young gun Magnus Norman (3).

Philippoussis will take on Sweden's Thomas Johansson. The big-hitting Melburnian has had a clean sweep against Johansson, claiming victory at both of their previous encounters (1998 US Open,
1999 Stockholm).

"Playing for Australia is important to me," Philippoussis said today after his practice session. "I'm here to win gold."

Rafter will face Vince Spadea (USA), the man he has conquered in four of their five encounters. However, Spadea today said he was happily entering this match as the underdog.

"I don't mind going in without all the hype and pressure," Spadea said. "There's always a lot of upsets in our sport, and who knows, maybe my match will be one of them."

Kuerten will face a first-time opponent in wildcard recipient Christophe Pognon from Benin while Norman will meet Romania's Andrei Pavel.
Norman and Pavel's head-to-head tally is currently tied at one apiece with Norman boasting victory in their last match (1999 Indianapolis).

On the women's front, reigning US Open Champion Venus Williams (2) will make her Olympic Games debut, while defending silver medallist Spain's Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario (5) will also open her
Olympic 2000 account.

Slovak Henrieta Nagyova has a tough first-round assignment against Williams. The American easily claimed the pair's only match (1998 Roland Garros) and she is currently enjoying a purple patch which
culminated in her capturing the US Open women's singles title less than a fortnight ago.

Sanchez-Vicario has drawn Chinese wildcard Na Li, and this will mark the first time these two have met.

American Monica Seles (3) will no doubt be seeking an Olympic medal to add to her impressive collection of trophies and accolades. She plays Hungarian wildcard Katalin Marosi-Aracama tomorrow in their first encounter.

In other Olympic tennis news, France's Sandrine Testud has been forced to withdraw today on account of a stress fracture in her rib. She
will be replaced in the singles by Julie Halard-Decugis and Amelie Mauresmo will replace her in the doubles.