The tournament also features Andre Agassi, whose recent rejuvenation has taken him from a lowly 141 a year ago to No 8 in the world this week.Rusedski has been out of the game for eight weeks since the ankle he badly twisted at Queen's forced him to withdraw from his first-round match against Mark Draper at Wimbledon. He will face one of two Italians, Diego Nargiso or Vicenzo Santopadre, in the second. Indeed Henman is only 545 points behind and in the race to be one of the eight qualifiers for the year-ending ATP Tour Championships in Hanover, Henman is currently 11th while Rusedski is not even in the top 15.Henman, from Oxford, is seeded six in New Haven and has a bye in the first round. He appears to have chosen the much tougher tournament as the top two seeds are Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter, who contested Sunday's final in Cincinnati. I have been with David Felgate for six years and benefited from the continuity."Both Britons are in action this week in warm-up tournaments for the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, which begins in two weeks on 31 August.

Henman, 23, plays at New Haven, Connecticut, while Rusedski, 24, makes his comeback in Indianapolis.Rusedski, particularly, is approaching a crucial time of the year, as he will need to at least match his performance in reaching the US Open final last year - where he lost to Pat Rafter - if he is not to lose vital rankings points and drop out of the top 10. A bad performance at Flushing Meadow could see him slip as low as 15.Henman, meanwhile, with fewer points to defend - he was a second-round casualty at the US Open last year - and having a much better year so far, is rapidly closing on his Canadian-born rival. "While we wish to continue talks with the clubs and other unions on the possible launch of a future cross-border competition, logistical reasons dictate that it cannot become a reality for this season," said Brian Baister, the chairman of the Rugby Football Union's management committee. Representatives of Cardiff and Swansea put new proposals to the general committee of the Welsh Rugby Union last night following several hours of negotiations. TIM HENMAN yesterday became the 100th player to make it into the world's top 10 since rankings were introduced 25 years ago. British tennis has now reached the dizzy and, until recently, undreamed of heights of having two players ranked in the world top 10 - the first time that has happened since the Association of Tennis Professionals started ranking in 1973. Greg Rusedski, the first Briton to reach single figures, keeps his place in the elite, dropping one place to No 7, despite not having played since an ankle injury forced him out of Wimbledon.Henman, whose elevation from 11th to 10th came despite his first-round defeat by Thomas Muster in Cincinnati last week, said: "It's all a bit different from back in February when I had four defeats, and people said I should change my coach."There has never been any chance of that happening.

"He'll be joining some guys with whom he has played a lot of international rugby and he'll feel comfortable in that environment.". Cardiff, the richest club in the principality, were furious at the WRU's refusal to back the immediate formation of a British league last week and, in their own words, had no intention of committing themselves to an impoverished domestic fixture programme.Cardiff completed the signing of Robert Jones, the former Wales and Lions scrum-half, from Bristol, despite their uncertain future. Bob Dwyer, who started work as Bristol's director of rugby yesterday afternoon, was quickly forced to accept that attempts to keep Jones on board had failed."I spoke to Robert over the weekend and reassured him that he had a part in our future, but I don't suppose you can blame him for going," said the Australian. Instead, officials from the two clubs requested an audience with Dennis Gethin, the secretary of the union, and Les Williams, the vice- chairman, in an effort to square the political circle.The clubs were still threatened with expulsion from the union as last night's deliberations ended, but the Welsh administrators were acutely aware of the consequences for an already mediocre Premiership competition. The failure of their initiative left the two most ambitious and powerful teams in the principality facing new ultimatums to sign the WRU's controversial 10-year loyalty agreement - a demand Cardiff, in particular, have always rejected out of hand.Club officials had originally been given until 1pm yesterday to put pen to paper but as with an entire catalogue of previous deadlines, the moment passed.

THE ON-OFF saga of the British league - longer running than The Mousetrap, more confusing than Twin Peaks - made a tantalisingly brief return to the nation's rugby agenda yesterday as Cardiff and Swansea joined forces in a final attempt to resurrect a project already presumed dead and buried last week. Inevitably, it was then scrapped for the umpteenth time, leaving the Welsh giants stranded in the sporting equivalent of no man's land. The English and Welsh unions acted quickly to reject any notion that an elite 24-team tournament might be put in place for a forthcoming campaign already reduced to a laughing stock by the inability of rugby's alleged leaders to agree on anything more complex than the day of the week. The 17-year-old failed to make her Japanese debut at the Tokyo hard court tournament last year because her mother could not get a visa.Kournikova reached her first final at Key Biscayne in March, but has been out of action since she strained her right thumb in a fall during a victory over Steffi Graf at Eastbourne in June.She is expected to face tough opposition from Graf, Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the French Open champion..

THE WORLD No 2, Lindsay Davenport, came from behind against the top-ranked Martina Hingis to win her 12th consecutive match and third WTA tournament in a row at Manhattan Beach in California on Sunday. Davenport dropped the first set, but stormed back to clinch a 4-6, 6- 4, 6-3 victory. Hingis had a break point in the final set to level matters, but the American saved it and held to take a 5-3 lead before breaking back to win on her second match point for her 17th career singles crown. "Three wins in a row is just great," said the local favourite, Davenport, following her victories at other California venues, Stanford and San Diego "It's so exciting. It means a lot to me, especially in California."The Russian teenager Anna Kournikova will make her long-delayed Japanese debut when she takes part in the Princess Cup tennis tournament in Tokyo next month. The former Great Britain scrum-half could now be suspended.The club's chairman, John Wilkinson, has stood loyally by Gregory through his various clashes with authority, but even his patience could run out, especially in the light of Salford's poor form this season.Castleford have signed the Parramatta's Aaron Raper, the younger brother of their coach, Stuart. The hooker, who played for Australia against South Africa in the 1995 World Cup and has represented New South Wales, will arrive for pre-season training and play for Cas in 1999.The club has denied reports that it has also enlisted the Melbourne and former Perth three-quarter, Paul Bell.. "I'm delighted to be staying for at least another 12 months," he said.Wigan's chief executive, Phil Clarke, said that Monie's second spell in charge at Central Park had "brought discipline to the club, on and off the pitch."The Salford coach, Andy Gregory, faces double trouble over his confrontational approach to officials.