seed in a field bereft of any of Bermuda's Davis Cup heroes.

Defending champion Ricky Mallory, who achieved a clean sweep of all the major domestic titles last year, has given the Heineken a miss to concentrate on helping his soccer team PHC win the Premier Division championship.

And Mallory's three team-mates who helped Bermuda win promotion to American Zone Group III in the Davis Cup tournament in Honduras earlier this month -- James Collieson, Jenson Bascome and Dean Mello -- have all returned to the US.

Michael Way, last year's runner-up in the men's A singles, is also absent through work commitments.

Frigerio won the tournament in 1996 and the main obstacles between him and a repeat victory are expected to be veterans Eldon Daniels and Eugene Simmons, seeded two and three respectively. Roger Marshall is seeded four.

In the women's A singles, there are just eight entrants and defending champion Jill Finnigan is not among them.

Gill Butterfield, last year's runner-up, is seeded one and Laverne Stowe two, while youngsters Tara Lambert and Zara DeSilva are also expected to challenge strongly.

The men's B singles will not have its defending champion Jovan Whitter. In the teenager's absence, Bob Stevenson is the top-seeded player of the 34 who have entered.

Jevon Roberts is number two, Brent Smith three and David Furbert, who is in action twice today, three.

Eldon Daniels is top seed in the senior men's singles, with Martin Zolnai ranked two.

Play starts at 4.00 p.m. at the Tennis Stadium today.

BTFA TO STAGE ROAD RELAY ATH BTFA to stage road relay Bermuda Track and Field Association are hoping road runners will come out in force for the End to End Relay, scheduled for Sunday, April 16.

This year's event sees a change in format as there will be no age divisions and mixed teams must have at least two females or two males among their five runners.

The first of the five legs will start in St. George's with the final team member finishing at Dockyard.

Top runners Kavin Smith and Vernon Tankard, members of last year's winning team, are both expected to be off the Island, ensuring that new champions will be crowned.

Further information can be obtained from race director Roger Lambert at 235-4457, 234-1255 or 238-8181.