Russia at the ANZ Stadium in Brisbane. The Russians will hold the edge in experience, with Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin taking on Lleyton Hewitt, who has played just one time, and Wayne Arthurs, who will probably play his first Cup match on Friday. Kafelnikov is the real dangerman. He's in great form and he's capable of beating just about anybody on his day ...... on just about any surface. If Wayne is selected to play, he'll come up against Kafelnikov on Friday. But if he plays to his potential, Wayne can do a lot of damage if he gets going. Grass is perfectly suited to his game. He can really bomb his left-handed serve and if he's on he can beat anybody. His game is pretty explosive and if he gets his serve and volley going, the Russians will be under pressure. Lleyton can win both his matches and he'll be trying to put Safin under pressure early on Friday. Lleyton loves to get to his opponents mentally and Safin will be tested. The doubles will be crucial to the outcome of the tie. A few weeks ago, Australia would have been firm favourites to win the tie since it's in Brisbane on grass. Unfortunately, things have hanged significantly since then with injuries to Mark Philippoussis and myself. But we're still confident of being able to pull out a win. The Queensland public has really got behind us and there's no doubt the crowd will be a huge factor. The boys have been practising at ANZ Stadium since Thursday and they'll do a lot more work yet before play starts on Friday. There's a lot riding on this t ie for both nations and we owe Russia one for the beating we copped in St. Petersburg back in 1994. Let's hope we can pull it off. ANDRE Agassi deserves full credit for his win in the US Open. He's playing great tennis, his game is very solid and he's had a fantastic run since winning the French Open in May and then getting to the Wimbledon final. He's clearly been the best player at the Grand Slams this year. Todd Martin did really well to get to the final considering the shape he was in and the way he was feeling.