Rafter was yesterday the chief beneficiary of the All-England Club's grasscourt seeding formula, surging from 10th on the entry system position table to third seed behind defending champion and seven-time winner Pete Sampras and 1992 champion Andre Agassi.

Spanish claycourter Juan Carlos Ferrero was shunted from fourth in the rankings to eighth seed, prompting speculation he would join compatriot Alex Corretja in boycotting the tournament starting next week.

Rafter opens his campaign against Czech Daniel Vacek, who he beat in the first round in Halle last week. Dual Queen's Club champion Hewitt – the fifth seed – faces Swedish veteran Magnus Gustafsson in the first round.

Rafter would then have nothing to fear, notionally, from Harel Levy, Olivier Rochus, David Sanchez and 27th seed Hicham Arazi en route to the fourth round, although Czech Slava Dosedel could pose problems.

But his most dangerous obstacles await in the second week – last season's surprise semi-finalist Vladimir Voltchkov and seventh seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarters.

But unseeded Victorian Wayne Arthurs, should he survive big-serving Max Mirnyi in the opening round, could be waiting for Rafter in the round of 16.

Hewitt has a rougher road, although he would expect to cope with Gustafsson, Sergi Bruguera, Edwin Kempes, Younes El Aynaoui and Andreas Vinciguerra.

He also will be unfazed by the seeds in his section: Franco Squillari, Nicolas Escude and Sebastien Grosjean. But lurking at the bottom of the draw is a trio of established grasscourters: Agassi, Wayne Ferreira and Nicolas Kiefer.

Hewitt could face Agassi in the quarters and, if successful, possibly Rafter in the semi-finals.

Agassi begins his quest for a second Wimbledon crown against Dutchman Peter Wessels, a renowned grasscourter.

Sampras has a wonderful draw, beginning with Spaniard Francisco Clavet.

Australia's four female representatives drew badly.

Evie Dominikovic faces 18th seed Anke Huber, Rachel McQuillan plays 15th seed Sandrine Testud and Nicole Pratt begins against sixth seed Amelie Mauresmo.

Yugoslav Jelena Dokic meets Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios while defending champion Venus Williams plays Shinobu Asagoe, of Japan.

Spaniard Albert Costa withdrew yesterday.

Newk warns of backlash

By JOHN THIRSK and LEO SCHLINK
20jun01

PAT RAFTER's elevation to No.3 seed for Wimbledon was like waving a red flag at a bull, Australia's three-time champion John Newcombe said last night. 

"I think there will be a backlash from the players over this," Newcombe said. "If every tournament did this, it would make a joke of the ATP entry list.

"Seeding Rafter at No.3 and Tim Henman at No.6 is like waving a red flag at a bull."

Pete Sampras, No.5 on the ATP entry list, has been seeded one for Wimbledon, courtesy of winning seven of the last eight championships there.

Rafter, last year's finalist and a semi-finalist in 1999, has been elevated from No.10 on the ATP entry list to third seed, while Henman, a semi-finalist in 1998 and 1999, has moved from No.11 to six.

The All-England Club believes the seeding amendments are justified because of varying expertise on grass surfaces.

But Newcombe took that position to task last night, saying: "If the French Tennis Federation took the same policy then Pete Sampras would be lucky to be seeded in the top 16 at the French Open."

Now the All-England Club is bracing itself for another claycourter boycott of the tournament.

While Rafter was dramatically elevated to third seed, Juan Carlos Ferrero headed a cluster of baseliners to be shunted down the order.

For the first time in 30 years, two Australians have been seeded in the top five with Lleyton Hewitt, No.6 on the ATP entry list, seeded five.

In 1971 three Aussies were seeded in the top five at Wimbledon with Rod Laver, Newcombe and Ken Rosewell made seeds one, two and three.

Despite criticising the seedings policy, Newcombe said he was personally happy for Rafter.

"I'm very happy that Pat has become the beneficiary of moving to the number three seed," he said.

While Rafter gained the most benefit, the elevation of Belarussian Vladimir Voltchkov provoked even more discussion.

A semi-finalist last year after qualifying, and former boys' champion, Voltchkov was lifted to 16th seeding ¨C 14 places above his world ranking. 

Rafter fails in bid for fourth Heineken Trophy 
By Steve Keating 
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands, June 19 (Reuters)(DS) - Second seed Pat 
Rafter was rocked 7-5 6-4 by Dutchman Peter Wessels in the 
opening round of the Heineken Trophy on Tuesday, ending the 
Australian's bid for a fourth consecutive title and disrupting 
his Wimbledon preparations. 
But compatriot Lleyton Hewitt continued his impressive 
build-up to the grasscourt Grand Slam, the top seed following up 
Sunday's tournament victory at London's Queen's Club with a 
first round 6-2 6-1 demolition of Italy's Davide Sanguinetti. 
Over the last three years the Heineken Trophy has developed 
into a key component of Rafter's Wimbledon build-up, the 
Australian arriving at the All England Club battle-tested and 
brimming with confidence. 
But after absorbing his first loss in 16 matches at the 
Dutch grasscourt event Rafter has been forced to overhaul his 
final preparations, shifting his focus from competition to 
practice and his location from Den Bosch to London. 
"You don't get a lot of opportunity to play on grass so you 
try to cram in as many matches and tournaments as you can," said 
Rafter, runner-up to Pete Sampras in last year's final. 
"Matches are always better than practice but practice isn't 
a bad substitute. 
"The courts are very different at Wimbledon so I'd like to 
get over there straightaway and get on them. They're a lot 
harder, a lot faster." 
If Wessels's victory gave twice U.S. Open champion Rafter a 
wake-up call it also sent a sharp warning to Australian Open 
champion Andre Agassi, who drew the tricky Dutchman as his first 
round opponent at Wimbledon. 
But after upset wins over Rafter and reigning U.S. Open 
champion Marat Safin of Russia last week at Queen's, Wessels 
knows he will not catch Agassi by surprise. 
"It was the first draw you could get," said Wessels, a 
serve-and-volley specialist whose only career title came on 
grass last year at Newport. "If there's any player I don't want 
to play against it's him. 
"But I do have some confidence after beating Safin and my 
win today." 

SEVENTH WIN 
While Hewitt is never short of confidence, his grasscourt 
campaign continued to pick up steam as he registered his seventh 
successive win on turf. 
Having pulled double duty on Sunday, battling to a three-set 
semifinal win over seven times Wimbledon champion Sampras in the 
morning followed by a tough two-set victory over Britain's Tim 
Henman in the final in the afternoon, Hewitt showed no sign of 
fatigue and needed just one hour to brush aside his Italian 
opponent. 
"I'm just trying to keep the ball rolling," Hewitt said. 
"The more matches I have before Wimbledon the better. 
"I'm just keeping the same game plan. If I'm hitting the 
ball well here I feel I'll be hitting it even better at 
Wimbledon." 
Fourth seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, an outside chance 
for Wimbledon, overcame a sluggish start to tame French veteran 
Anthony Dupuis 7-6 6-4 to book his place in the second round. 
Federer looked far from comfortable on the Dutch grass, 
allowing the first set to go to a tie-break, wich he easily won 
7-3. 
The 20-year-old Swiss player carried the momentum into the 
second set, breaking Dupuis at the first opportunity. 
But the former junior Wimbledon champion was unable to build 
on his advantage, simply holding his serve to close out the 
match in routine fashion. 
Moroccan sixth seed Hicham Arazi was an easy winner downing 
Australian qualifier Dejan Petrovic 6-3 6-2 but eighth seed 
Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus was tripped up 5-7 7-5 6-0 by 
Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer. 
On the women's side of the draw, seeded Russian teenagers 
Elena Dementieva and Lina Krasnoroutskaya both made early exits. 
Third seed Dementieva was surprised 7-5 6-3 by Uzbekistan's 
Iroda Tulyaganova, while eighth seed Krasnoroutskaya was stopped 
6-4 3-6 6-3 by 1999 Heineken Trophy champion Kristina Brandi of 
the United States. 

Rafter falters in vital lead-up
By LEO SCHLINK
21jun01
LONDON: PAT Rafter's confidence has taken a battering in the lead-up to Wimbledon after he was a shock first-round loser to Dutchman Peter Wessels at the Heineken Trophy in the Netherlands yesterday.

Controversially seeded third at Wimbledon, Rafter plunged to his first defeat in three years at Rosmalen with a 6-4 7-5 loss to grasscourt specialist Wessels ¨C Andre Agassi's first-round opponent at the All-England Club.

Rafter admitted he needs to lift dramatically for his Wimbledon campaign.

"I was probably a little bit flat in my match so if I'm going to be like that, then Wimbledon won't be successful for me," he said.

"I'm going to have to lift my game. I'm somebody who loves to play matches, so it's very disappointing not to play here.

"I'm going to get over there (England) and make the best of the situation.

"I struggled a little bit, so I need to sharpen up."

Rafter has ventured to Wimbledon for the past three years as Heineken champion, parlaying that impressive form into strong second-week finishes ¨C fourth round, semi-finalist and last year a finalist.

The perfection-seeking Queenslander did not appear too depressed by the loss to Wessels, whose best results have come on grass and include a nailbiting triumph over world No. 4 Marat Safin at Queen's last week.

But the warrior in Rafter is such that straight-sets losses to men such as Wessels, ranked 91st in the world, do not sit well.

"I'm just going out there now to get stuck into it," he said with his signature conviction.

Rafter had been bidding for a record-equalling fourth title at Rosmalen. Only two other active players ¨C Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Moscow) and Pete Sampras (Wimbledon) ¨C have won the same tournament four years in succession.

Rafter thinks grass will be greener May 30 2001 i7sport

Pat Rafter raised his sights to Wimbledon after his French Open was brought to a halt by Wayne Arthurs' finest tennis win.Rafter's level of disappointment ran not nearly as deep Arthurs' delight after he had served his way back from the brink, then smothered Rafter in the fifth set, even if he took four match points across two games to close it off.
The defeat in fading light for Rafter, from his compatriot and friend, at least ushered him away from his least favourite surface in the least possible time, and to the more comfortable surrounds of grass.
And perhaps out of the realisation this is just not his grand slam, Rafter was far from inconsolable despite having missed two match points in his 4-6 2-6 6-3 7-6 6-1 loss.
He will now begin a grasscourt preparation, heading to two European tournaments before Wimbledon, where he will strive to better his runners-up finish last year.
"I've got to get on with it now and get ready for the grass," said Rafter, who said he may go to Germany or England to prepare before playing at Halle, Rosmalen - which he has won for the past three years - and Wimbledon.
"I just want to work hard and get ready. I've only got two tournaments before Wimbledon. Hopefully I'll have a lot of matches again.
"Some positives came out of today. My arm held up very well, there was no fatigue there whatsoever. In Brazil (at the Davis Cup) it was a little worry for me. Here I was fine."
The right elbow which caused his retirement in the Davis Cup in Brazil last month and troubled him at the World Teams Cup last year will require ongoing treatment as Rafter, who has discussed retiring at the end of the year, seeks his elusive Wimbledon title.
He will have to also hope he doesn't meet many more servers like left-hander Arthurs, who is now 2-0 against the Queenslander, and who was able to raise his game to meet Rafter's brilliant return of serve through the first two sets.
"I tried to keep the pressure up on his service game. I did a pretty good job of that (but) he continually served very well," said Rafter, who - apart from an anomalous semifinal appearance in 1997 - has not made it past the third round at Roland Garros.
"He got himself out of trouble with really good first and second serves the whole match."