NEW DELHI, December 6: After bouncing out of the semis at the Ahmedabad Challenger, Leander Paes, who has ended 1997 with a ranking of 114 (total points 420), moves on to South Africa for the Nelson Mandela Benefit tie where he faces former Wimbledon champ Richard Krajicek in his opening match. Bhupathi, meanwhile, ends the year at 228 with 176 points on the ATP computer. This is the seventh year in succession Paes has improved his ranking over the previous year, but has still failed to get into the elite 100, save for one week this year.

But now that the season is over, the focus shifts to 1998's first Grand Slam -- the Australian Open. Paes is sure to get in either as a direct entry or as a wildcard, now that Tennis Australia and Asian Tennis Federation have worked out an arrangement to give two wildcards to Asian players.

At 114 it might be a touch and go affair as a direct entry, but as one of the top two players in Asia Paes will surely get a wildcard. If the Australian Open, as is the practice, uses the year-end rankings, Paes is the top Asian.

But the man who might lose -- whether Paes gets in direct or as a wildcard -- is his own doubles partner, Mahesh Bhupathi.

The catch in the understanding between Tennis Australia and the ATF is that if one Asian player is into the main draw, then another player from the same country may not qualify for the wild card. And it is not possible two wildcards will be given to one country, so Bhupathi stays out.

In fact, this was quite the topic in the Paes and Bhupathi camps during the Asia Cup in November, and Indian Davis Cup Captain, Jaideep Mukherjea, when he checked out the issue with a visiting ATF official, was told that Bhupathi may lose out.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.