Muster confident on clay

Tim Henman and the British Davis Cup tennis team will have to face Austria on clay in their world group relegation tie in September.

"The British players are very good on grass and hard courts but they don't feel at home on clay," Thomas Muster, Austria's non-playing captain, said today. "On the other hand, my team consists of players who prefer to compete on that surface.

"We have also chosen Poertschach because we always get great crowd support and the temperatures are high. That suits us."

Austria have not lost a Davis Cup clash in Poertschach since 1983. The tie against Henman and Greg Rusedski is due to start on 24 September.

Martina Navratilova has been given a doubles wild card to play in the Hastings Direct Championships at Eastbourne next month.

The nine-times Wimbledon champion is also in talks with tournament officials about a wild card entry into the singles event.

Guillermo Coria, the world No3, will make his Stella Artois Championships debut after accepting a wild card into the event at the Queen's Club, starting on 7 June.