Seles opens Olympic tournament on centre court

Sydney: Monica Seles, winner of nine grand slam titles, begins the 2000 Olympic tennis tournament while all-conquering Venus Williams will close the show on the opening night in Olympic Park on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Seles, a losing quarter-finalist in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, opens against Hungarian Katalin Marosi-Aracama.

Williams, on a 26-match winning streak that has included triumphant runs at both Wimbledon and the US Open, will play Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia to complete the programme.

In between, two of Australia's hopes for Olympic glory - Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis - launch their bids for medals at the 10,000-seat circular stadium.

The 13th-seeded Rafter, a double US Open champion, follows Seles on to centre court to take on struggling American Vince Spadea, winner of only two matches all year.

Eleventh seed Philippoussis meets US open quarter-finalist Thomas Johansson of Sweden. Philippoussis beat the Swede in a five-setter at Flushing Meadows two years ago on the way to the open's all-Australian final with Rafter.



(c) Reuters Limited.