Open, the big question on the tennis fraternity's lips was who would be his partner? The names of fellow Australians Scott Draper and former Open finalist Jason Stoltenberg were mentioned, but when it was finally announced it would be Paul Kilderry, most fans were still nonplussed.

Kilderry, it transpired, was also Australian, albeit from the opposite side of the continent from the Bermuda resident, coming from Perth in Western Australia. Rafter is a native of Queensland.

But Kilderry, speaking after his singles defeat at the hands of defending champion Hernan Gumy, revealed: "I've known Patrick since we were about 12, playing in the same junior tournaments. In tennis terms, Australia's a small place.'' Kilderry, now a US resident and a doubles specialist, admitted Rafter was instrumental in getting him to Bermuda. "We've practised together a lot on the circuit and I came here last year to practise with him for a week. I met a lot of his friends here and became good friends with them as well.'' The pair are sure to draw the best crowd of the week so far to Coral Beach when they take on Diego Del Piero and Guillermo Canas tonight.

Rafter was in the players' box yesterday watching Kilderry in action and got in two sessions himself on the outside courts early in the morning and later in the afternoon with the big server from Belarus, Max Myrnyi.

With Kilderry having picked up two doubles titles and earned over $400,000 in his doubles career and Rafter winning three doubles tournaments in 1998 alone Second seed Koubek taken for a ride From Page 13 no surprise that the former fancies their chances in Bermuda.

"We have played well together,'' he said, "and we could do well. But everybody's tough to play against these days and although you might think on paper you should win, you can actually lose to anyone.

*** NUMBER two seed Stefan Koubek may be the world's number 88 tennis player -- but he ranks pretty low as a moped rider.

The 22-year-old Austrian was spotted riding his hire bike around the maze of pathways on the Coral Beach site, after being turned away from the main entrance by a security guard who clearly didn't recognise him.

On coming up to a dead end, he tried to turn his 50cc machine around, but put a touch too much topspin on the throttle and his front wheel reared up wildly off the ground.

Koubek managed to stay on the bike and remained calm after his inadvertent `wheelie'. He admitted he wasn't accustomed to riding motorcycles, but added: "They're just perfect for the roads here.'' *** HERNAN Gumy missed his flight connection to Bermuda and had to spend Sunday night in New York in what was not the best preparation for defending his Open title.

First-round matches were already underway as Gumy finally arrived at Coral Beach on Monday afternoon, after reaching the semi-finals of a tournament in Italy.

"We were coming from Rome and had to stay overnight in a hotel at JFK Airport, because we missed our connection,'' said the unflustered Gumy.

"But I'm used to this. I've been travelling around for 12 or 13 years and I know you need to be patient.

"I got here about 12 o'clock on Monday, but it was too windy to practise and I was feeling a little bit tired. I slept very well.''