After an ankle injury forced him to withdraw from the National Hardcourt in Delhi last week, Srinath (ranked 541) is not completely sure how his foot will behave on the newly laid Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) asphalt courts.

With rains having an extended session in the metropolis, the Association's plans for a Decoturf have been put on hold besides raising a question mark over the use of the newly installed floodlights. All matches are likely to be played in the sultry mornings, as the skies open up with amazing consistency in the evenings.

Srinath, who took a break in Pune before arriving here for his first tournament in the city in two years, may not have to put too much pressure on his ankle when he faces former practice partner Keerthi Basapparaju of Bangalore, his firstround opponent on Tuesday.

Basapparaju's college-mate from the strictly academic MES College in Bangalore, Ravikiran Bhat, is up against third seed, Swede Federico Rovai tomorrow. The 17-year-old Bhat, semi-finalist in the National Hardcourt under-18 singles, is playing his third men's Satellite event knows nothing about his opponent and was not the least bit perturbed by it.

Sandeep Kirtane and wild card Vishaal Uppal, troubled by injuries in recent times, are also here to join the 12 qualifiers, 16 direct entries and four wild cards for the $6250 event.

Top seed Andy Fahlke (Ger, 423) will face qualifier Arun Avinash in the first round tomorrow.

Seven Indians qualify: Seven Indians joined the three who qualified yesterday in the main draw today. Vijendra Laad, the newly crowned National under-18 champion, returned late last night from Delhi and won his two matches this morning to advance.

Pravin Kumar of Air-India beat Australian David McCabe 6-4, 6-0 and will play German Gerhard Fahlke inthe first round tomorrow.

Seedings 1 Andy Fahlke (Ger, 423), 2 Prahlad Srinath (Ind, 541), 3 Federico Rovai (Swe, 560), 4 Johan Hede (Swe, 618), 5 Patrick Erhardt (Ger, 677), 6 Timo Nigri (Ger, 746), 7 Niko Karagiannis (Gre, 901), 8 Marian Leysek (Svk, 942).

Final qualifying round: R Narendra (Ind) bt Mohammed Yaseer A (Ind) 7-5, 2-6, 7-5; S Pravin Kumar (Ind) bt David McCabe (Aus) 6-4, 6-0; Fahlke Gerhard (Ger) bt Nalinothu Bosekiran (Ind) 6-1, 6-2; Anand Radhakrishnan (Ind) bt Saif Ali (Ind) 6-3, 6-1; Arun Avinash (Ind) bt Shailesh Dhoble (Ind) 6-3, 3-0 conceded; S Zama (Ind) bt Viplan Anjan (Ind) 6-1, 6-1; Mustafa Ghouse (Ind) bt Vishal Gupta 7-5, 6-4; Vijendra Laad (Ind) bt Nirmit Shetty (Ind) 6-4, 6-3.