The smell of fresh paint will undoubtedly still be in the air, but the drilling and hammering will be muffled as professional tennis takes centre stage at the Coral Beach and Tennis Club, beginning at 9 a.m. this morning.

More than two dozen players -- including Bermuda's Michael Way and Donald Evans -- will slug it out over the next two days for four coveted qualifying spots in the main singles draw of the $328,000 XL Bermuda Open.

Way and Evans will represent the Island's only hope for local players to compete in the Open, which begins officially on Monday morning, since no locals will be taking part in doubles qualifying.

Court space was at a premium yesterday at the Paget club with much attention focused on former world number one Mats Wilander of Sweden, who practised with Germany's Karsten Braasch on court number four. Wilander enjoyed a spirited workout despite having arrived in Bermuda less than 12 hours earlier from his home in Connecticut.

Currently ranked 95th in the world, Wilander is regarded as a potential threat to Todd Martin, the Open's top seed who punched the time-clock for his week-long stint yesterday afternoon.

At Coral Beach with a baseball cap that resembled the flag of Sweden, Wilander caught everyone's attention, even when he took the blue and yellow cap off.

Steve Bryan, a US player trying to qualify this weekend, asked Wilander, one of the game's greatest players: "Golf this week or no golf?'' Wilander, 30, an avid golfer, did play later in the day with his brother, but it's tennis that is uppermost in his mind these days.

The winner of an astounding 33 titles, the six-foot, 170-pound righthander is a three-time winner of both the Australian and French Opens and a winner of the US Open during that magical year (1988) when he won three Grand Slam events. Only a title at Wimbledon has eluded him.

"It's only Friday and I haven't played outdoor on clay for awhile, but I've been practising on clay at home, but only indoors,'' Wilanders said following yesterday's 57-minute workout. "It's a matter of getting into a rhythm.'' Braasch, his opponent yesterday, sometimes found Wilander's offerings hotter than the matches he uses to light the frequent Marlboro's he smokes. "Mats was hitting the ball really well,'' said Braasch, ranked 83rd in the world and making his second appearance in Bermuda (he was beaten by Argentina's Daniel Orsanic during the first round of the XL Classic). "I just didn't like the fact that I've been here for a week and Mats comes in last night and is kicking my butt in practice.'' Wilander, like Braasch, has not competed in a tournament since the Lipton Championships at the end of March.

On the tour for 14 years, Wilander in 1994 played his first full year on the tour since losing interest in the game. He underwent knee surgery in 1991 and re-emerged on the tour in 1993 playing in seven events as a wild card.

"The clay is pretty slow, it's a little soft which is not great for running on but it's pretty good for playing because it makes it a little slower,'' said Wilander of the surface at Coral Beach. "I'm going to have to prepare myself for two-and-a-half hour battles because it's that slow. There are going to be long matches.'' Wilander, wearing his wedding ring during yesterday's practice, is one of the golden attractions at Coral Beach especially after jumping more than 30 spots in the rankings after reaching the quarter-finals at the Lipton. With a 6-4 record in singles play he has been competitive in each match except for a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Andre Agassi at Indian Wells, California early last month.

Wilander and Braasch appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, under the watchful eyes of several players including Canadian doubles ace Grant Connell.

Also watching closely was Way, who worked out for an hour with tournament chairman Alec Anderson. A member of Bermuda's Davis Cup squad, Way has been getting a few tips from Braasch's coach Carsten Skielka during the week.

"They hit the ball just like anybody else, but they do it so much more consistently,'' said Way as he watched Braasch and Wilander. "They're in great shape.'' Way, who practised again later in the day with Evans, said that the level of players in the qualifying draw would be a lot higher than in 1993 when he failed to get past the first round of qualifying for the XL Classic. "But I feel in much better shape. Whoever I play is going to be very, very tough.'' As the finishing touches were being put on box seats and signage around the courts, Anderson was expecting everything to run smoothly during the week-long event.

Included in the main singles draw are a number of players in the top 100 including Jason Stoltenberg (22), Brett Steven (53), Vince Spadea (56), Patrick McEnroe (66), and Martin Sinner (50).

With many of the players strong on clay, Braasch, beard clipped as closely as the lawns surrounding the courts, said that Martin, ranked number 11 in the world, may have his hands full.

"It's a good, strong field with a lot of good clay court players,'' he said.

"I think everybody's who's playing here has a chance to win. Obviously Martin will be favoured, but I don't think he's going to love to play on a court as slow as this one. He might have some problems.'' Also arriving yesterday were ATP Tour and USTA officials, with the Open being one of three major events next week, the others taking place in Hong Kong and Nice, France. All three events are on clay and each is offering the same prize money.

"I like it here a lot,'' said Braasch, who has been on the Island since last Saturday. "I needed to work a little bit...to get in better shape. I've been having a problem lately where I started getting tired after two sets and mentally I was getting tired. Now I'm feeling quite good.'' MATS WILANDER -- worked out at Coral Beach yesterday morning before heading for the golf course.