Explaining his current state of his injury, Paes said,. ``well, I am 80 to 85 percent better and I have been cleared by the doctor.'' But he was quick to add a word of caution. ``However, there is no guarantee that I will not make the injury worse by playing here. But since it is the most important tournament in India, I thought I should play. And yes, I will be playing both the singles and doubles.'' He also confirmed that he would play in the Baroda Challenger which starts the week following the Gold Flake Open.

While complimenting the Indian Davis Cup squad for its performance at Genoa, Paes opined that the team did reallywell ``under the circumstances.''But even the gentle mannered Paes could not help having a dig at the All India Tennis Association. ``I don't know why a fourth player was not sent. I had informed them well in advance of my injury. It can't always be Mahesh and me. There should be a back-up of four or five players otherwise an injury to anyone of us only magnifies the situation.''

Paes, Becker QF clash on cards: A Patrick Rafter-Boris Becker final in the Gold Flake Open has been ruled out as both -- the top seed Rafter and the fourth seeded Becker are in the same half of the draw and can play each other, if at all, in the semifinal. But over and above everything, perhaps the spectators would love to see one match that could take place -- a Becker-Leander Paes quarter-final.

Becker first plays a qualifier. His second round will be against either another qualifier or Gerard Solves of France, a semifinalist here last year.On the other hand, Paes' first round opponent is wild card entry Bjorn Phau of Germany.If he gets past that hurdle, Paes, currently ranked 128th, is to meet either junior Wimbledon champion Wesley Whitehouse of South Africa, another wild card entry or sixth seeded and 89th ranked Jerome Golmard of France, who lost in the first round here last year. So a Becker-Paes quarterfinal could be on the cards and if Paes is able to get the better of the great German, then he could be fighting Rafter, who has a easy draw, for a place in the final.

Second seeded Todd Woodbridge, ranked 36, has drawn Mahesh Bhupathi, currently ranked 244th, in the first round.

The seedings

1. Patrick Rafter (Australia, ranked 4). 2. Todd Woodbridge (Australia, 36). 3. Mark Woodforde (Australia, 46). 4. Boris Becker (Germany, 63). 5.Mikhael Tillstrom (Sweden, 88). 6. Jerome Golmard (France, 89), 7. Arnaud Clement (France, 92). 8. Andrei Pavel (Romania, 93).Doubles

1. Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde (Australia), 2. Mahesh Bhupathi & Leander Paes (India), 3. Jonathan Stark & Jeff Salzenstein (USA), 4.Oliver Delaitre (France) & Max Mirnyi (Belarus).(Two Indian pairs Harsh Mankad-Gaurav Natekar and Sandeep Kirtane-Vishal Uppal have been given wild cards).