Brazilian number one Gustavo Kuerten is troubled by a groin injury and is doubtful for Friday's opening singles in the Davis Cup tennis semifinals against Australia.
The two-time French Open champion carries Brazil's hopes of success but Tuesday admitted to being worried by the injury after struggling in practice.
Without Kuerten, ranked fourth in the world, Brazil would have little chance of beating the reigning champions on grass at ANZ Stadium to reach their first ever Davis Cup final.
As the Australian camp was distracted by the withdrawal of Mark Philippoussis, the Brazilian team got in another day of valuable practice time while the Australians were flying back from Wimbledon.
But it soon became clear they, too, had their share of problems with Kuerten lacking the fluency he showed on court on Monday, and several times reacting noticeably to twinges from his groin strain.
Brazil captain Ricardo Acioly brushed aside inquiries about Kuerten's fitness, but the 23-year-old player did not hide his concern.
Asked if he had been experiencing pain, Kuerten said, "yes, a lot. There's a lot of pain. It's tough to run."
Pressed if he would be ready to play on Friday, he said, without a lot of confidence, "I hope so. I want to play."
Although upset over Philippoussis' latest withdrawal from his team, Australian captain John Newcombe Tuesday moved to isolate his team from the Philippoussis furor ahead of the semifinals.
With his players en route from London and only three days before the tie, Newcombe did not want to get involved in the row over Philippoussis' late withdrawal from the team.
"I don't really want to comment on that," he said on arrival. "We've got a match to play. We've been down this route before and you get a team, you get a negative issue surrounding it and you don't concentrate on the job at hand."
Wimbledon finalist Pat Rafter lashed out at Philippoussis' latest withdrawal from the side by calling on him to declare once and for all where he stood on playing Davis Cup.
Newcombe had to 'phone Philippoussis in Melbourne from London on Saturday to confirm reports that he was withdrawing citing inflammation in his left knee and a need to rest.
Philippoussis has yet to respond to Rafter's call other than through a statement from his manager Monday saying he believed Rafter was uninformed and that Philippoussis was out of the tie because of his knee problem – (AFP)
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