American home crowd will not be the only obstacles Bermuda will try to overcome today in their Davis Cup opener against Cuba.

The tournament is subject to experimental rules being tried out by the International Tennis Federation -- namely short sets and bigger balls.

Sets will be first to four games, rather than six, with a two-game lead to win and tiebreakers at 4-4. Matches will be the best of five sets, with no tiebreaker in the fifth set.

The balls are six percent larger than conventional ones, designed to travel through the air more slowly to encourage longer rallies.

The Bermuda players had their first chance to practise with them yesterday and Jenson Bascome, renowned for his speed around the court, thought they might help his game.

"I think that will help me a bit, because I'm a natural counter-puncher and I should be able to chase down more balls.'' Bascome was less happy with short sets, which he felt would increase pressure on players. "We had a meeting when we stressed that service and return of serve would be key,'' said Bascome. "Those aspects have to be spot on, because one break and the set can be over like that. There is less time to come back.''