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Is Belgium a heavy favorite to win Fed Cup in Madrid?

You would think so, given that the team contains a Roland Garros finalist (Kim Clijsters) and an RG semifinalist (Justine Henin). But it is a teenage squad without an invincible doubles team (Laurence Courtois/Els Callens are OK but no lock) and they will have to get by the wise old home team of Spain (Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Conchita Martinez) to get out of their group.

Belgium opens play against a weak German squad and Spain will play a very beatable group from Argentina. other than Belgium, tennisreporters.net sees two teams with an excellent chance of winning: France and Russia.

France will send out a slew of tough veterans, including Amelie Mauresmo and Sandrine Testud in singles, and we're guessing Testud pairing with Nathalie Tauziat in doubles. Considering that it was Testud who helped get Tauziat get kicked off the Olympic team in '00, we wonder how good their chemistry will be. If Mauresmo can mange to play up to her potential for once at an important event and lead her country to victory, she could redeem her horrific performance at Roland Garros this year.

Russian Captain Shamil Tarpischev could go with a singles lineup of Elena Bovina in singles and Nadia Petrova/Elena Likhovtseva in doubles, which is formidable squad if the Dementieva and Petrova play patiently and Bovina serves the lights out. Likhovtseva is the only really consistent performer on the team – in doubles. Another option for Tarpischev is playing Petrova in singles should Bovina falter again, like she did against the Czechs.

It's no surprise that Fed Cup ticket sales have been weak, given that the marquee U.S. team decided not to compete and because Spanish fans may be getting tired of pulling for the declining Arantxa and Conchita. Plus, there's no Anna or Martina. Still, a French border skirmish of femme fatales between Brussels and Paris would a heck of as lot of fun, even if Clijsters prefers to swear in Flemish.

LET US CORRECT YOU
The daily tennis publication out of the Twin Cities committed its 2,000th factual error the other day, when it reported that the WTA put off its move to Florida. The WTA is already in the process of moving to St. Pete and will be done next month. The WTA has put off moving its St. Pete operation to Saddlebrook Resort next fall, but will likely do so in 2003.