Melbourne  - Mark Philippoussis will play it safe in his first serious match in two years as the injury-prone former player competes in this week's exhibition in Adelaide.

After multiple knee surgeries the 32-year-old Philippoussis is unsure about any tennis future.

"I have no expectations," the two-time Grand Slam finalist told local media. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone or even to myself, it's just about me loving the game and getting back out and playing the game.

"There's no way I'm looking too far ahead."

Sydney - Women's seeds stormed through into the quarter-finals as Lleyton Hewitt made a typical fighting debut on Tuesday at the Medibank International.

The four-time champion, who is playing only his second event since hip surgery in August, had to spend two hours in baking summer heat to overcome Julien Benneteau 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

The unseeded Australian, trying to lift a ranking which has fallen to 71st, fell behind 1-4 in the first set, which Benneteau won. But Hewitt scrambled back into contention to earn the hard-fought win, through 13 winners and seven aces.

Melbourne - Roger Federer will begin his Australian Open tuneup on Wednesday at the AAMI Classic, ignoring bookmaker chatter that his Grand Slam title hopes are under siege from newcomer Andy Murray.

The Swiss takes on old foe Carlos Moya in the eight-man event which runs through Saturday, providing the field with top practise for the Open which begins on Monday.

The fact that Murray and Federer are tipped at an equal 3.50 dollars (one dollar earns 3.50 back) to win the Open by Australian oddsmakers took the Swiss by surprise.

Melbourne - Marat Safin heads to the Australian Open with minimal preparation after withdrawing from the AAMI Classic tune-up event starting on Wednesday.

London  - The ATP has again stepped outside of tennis to find a leader, Monday appointing former Nike marketer Adam Helfant as ATP executive chairman and president.

The 44-year-old will take the dual positions formerly held by ex- Disney Europe boss Etienne de Villiers, who stepped down under player pressure at the end of December.

The ATP decision overlooks ATP Asia-Pacific executive Brad Drewett, a former player with close links to the players as tournament director of the Shanghai Masters Cup for the past five editions.

Helfant, an MIT and Harvard Law graduate, served for a dozen years at Nike, and before that at the National Hockey League in North America.

Madrid - Educated at the best universities, young, brilliant, family-loving and convinced of the power of public relations: such is Adam Helfant, the new strongman of men's tennis.

Adam S Helfant, 44, a US citizen and a former employee of sports gear giant Nike, will have to push into oblivion the failed experiment around the South African Etienne de Villiers, who quarrelled with a large portion of the players, including the top ranking players, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and the Swiss Roger Federer.

"Both support him, and that is good," a man who often talks to Nadal and Federer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa with reference to Helfant.