By TERRY MADDAFORD
In September Andre Sa and Gustavo Kuerten teamed up to play doubles as Brazil beat Canada to hold their place in the world group of the Davis Cup.
The pair are now in Auckland for the Heineken Open.
Kuerten, with his world ranking of 37 is seeded, Sa, despite
being inside the world's top 70 can not even make the main draw.
With the lowest-ever cut-off in Auckland, Sa faces qualifying but even that will not be easy.
He faces an anxious wait until final sign-in tonight - as the first alternate he could grab a late main draw spot.
If not, he will be top seed in qualifying but still facing a hectic three days in his attempt to win through.
Sa had a strong 2002, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon where he lost in four sets to Tim Henman.
One spot below Sa on the entry list for qualifying is perennial Auckland visitor Vince Spadea, who once ranked in the world's top 20 and has won $2.37 million. He, too, is a Grand Slam quarter-finalist.
Joining that group of players who have made the last eight in majors is Romanian Adrian Voinea, who reached the quarters of the French Open in 1995 but had one of his best year's last year reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open and the third at Wimbledon. His ranking rose accordingly, from 97 to 68.
Switzerland's Michel Kratochvil started last year strongly, beating among others David Nalbandian en route to the semifinals in Auckland, where he lost to Jerome Golmard, who also faces qualifying this time.
The Swiss No 2 went on to reach the Wimbledon quarters losing in five sets to Henman.
Provided he signs in, Kratochil is likely to be seeded into qualifying unlike Argentine Franco Squillari, who was top seed here two years ago.
Further down the list, American Michael Russell rates a danger. Two years ago he reached second round qualifying here and went on to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Four New Zealanders will also try their luck in qualifying, which starts at the ASB Tennis Centre at 9am tomorrow.
National 18s champion Daniel King-Turner, Auckland's Jacob Olsen, experienced Wellington professional Robbie Cheyne and 16-year-old Aucklander GD Jones will join 28 professionals in the draw.
Qualifying continues on Sunday (no admission charge) with the last four matches on Monday. The winners go into the main draw.
By TERRY MADDAFORD
In September Andre Sa and Gustavo Kuerten teamed up to play doubles as Brazil beat Canada to hold their place in the world group of the Davis Cup.
The pair are now in Auckland for the Heineken Open.
Kuerten, with his world ranking of 37 is seeded, Sa, despite
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