Pat Rafter, one of the superstars of world tennis, is to play an exhibition match in Bermuda.

Australian Rafter, who has a home on the Island, will play on the semi-final Saturday of the XL Bermuda Open. His opponent is still to be confirmed.

Players ranked in the top 10 are not allowed to play in Challenger tournaments like the Bermuda Open and so Rafter, the current world number four, is almost certain to be ineligible.

Tournament organisers first approached Rafter last November with the idea of the exhibition match and he has now confirmed he will play on the clay courts at Coral Beach on April 17.

Rafter's presence is sure to boost interest in the Open, which starts on April 12, and tournament director Alec Anderson believed the player was trying to show his appreciation of his adopted home.

"We are thoroughly excited and we could not ask for anything better,'' said Anderson. "He's a quality player and a nice guy.'' "I think he feels he has some strong friendships here and he likes Bermuda and the tournament.'' Rafter is scheduled to play between the two semi-finals and Anderson is working on finding him an opponent.

The Australian last competed in the Bermuda Open in 1996, at a time when he was ranked 87 in the world. He reached the last 16 where he lost 6-7 (0-6), 3-6 to Swede Mats Wilander.

Since then he has become one of Australia's most popular sportsmen and has won the last two US Opens.

Some of the players who have featured in the Open have been in outstanding form in the Australian Open.

Nicolas Lapentti, of Ecuador, ranked 91 in the world, who twice played at Coral Beach, today faces Swede Thomas Enqvist -- conqueror of Rafter -- in the semi-final.

And two other veterans of the Bermuda Open got as far as the last eight, Americans Todd Martin and Vincent Spadea, who knocked out number five seed Andre Agassi on the way.

The performance of Lapentti, who made his Bermuda debut as a 19-year-old in 1996 and reached the doubles semi-finals, is perhaps the most surprising.

Lapentti beat Thomas Johannson, Magnus Norman, Mikael Tillstrom, Andrew Ilie to reach the quarter-final where he bagged his most impressive scalp, that of number seven seed Karol Kucera, of Slovakia.

Four of the five victories, including the defeat of Kucera, went to five sets and Lapentti has become a crowd favourite for his never-say-die spirit.

The Ecuadorian suffered a major lapse of concentration to allow Kucera to take the fourth set 6-0, but recovered strongly to become the lowest-ranked semi-finalist at the Australian Open since 114-ranked Patrick McEnroe, another veteran of the Bermuda Open, in 1991.

After his momentous victory put him in sight of his first Grand Slam final, Lapentti said: "Thomas is playing great tennis so I'll just have to go for it. I mean, I'm in the semis and I'm going to fight my heart out.'' Anderson confirmed that Lapentti would be invited back to Bermuda this year.

Talks are under way to attract several other top players including last year's winner of the $100,000 tournament, Argentine Hernan Gumy and Australians Jason Stoltenberg and Scott Draper.

COMING HOME -- Bermuda resident Patrick Rafter will play an exhibition match during this year's XL tournament in April.