By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer staff writer

The opening weekend of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters could be considered a warmup. Or, in a better light, an event superior to many on the ATP Tour.

The Seniors doubles begin Friday, and it gets serious with the two-day qualifier Saturday and Sunday. That is a preview of the main draw, which begins Aug. 2.

"It's been said before: In many regards, our qualifier is competitive with many main-draw fields on the tour," tournament director Bruce Flory said.

The qualifier field includes 2002 Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson and two former Grand Slam finalists: Martin Verkerk (2003 French Open) and Greg Rusedski (1997 U.S. Open).

The highest-ranked in the qualifier is Wimbledon semifinalist Mario Ancic at No. 27.

Why isn't Ancic in the main draw?

The 51 direct-entry players are the top 51 in the rankings six weeks before the event.

Ancic's run at Wimbledon has since jumped his ranking.

Half of the 32 men in the qualifier are currently ranked in the top 100. Some of them were among the top players in main draws elsewhere: Alberto Martin was seeded fifth this week in the Croatia Open; Gregory Carraz was the fourth seed at Newport.

Some other notable names to watch: the 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, former world No. 6 Nicolas Lapentti and rising 21-year-old Alex Bogomolov Jr.

The players compete for eight main-draw berths. Scott Draper emerged from the qualifier last year and held seven match points on Roger Federer before falling. Wayne Arthurs came from the qualifier two years ago to beat Pete Sampras and reach the quarterfinals. Draper and Arthurs are again in the qualifier field.

Four tournament winners - Pat Rafter, Stefan Edberg, Guy Forget and Peter Fleming - played here as qualifiers.

"There's just not a big difference (in talent) between the guys who play qualifying and who don't," Flory said.

Two years ago, the qualifier field included Guillermo Coria, Mark Philippoussis, Paradorn Srichaphan, Mardy Fish and Vince Spadea - all of whom have been in the top 25.

Children 14 and under are free for the qualifier; adult tickets are $10. Most main-draw players can be seen practicing Saturday and Sunday.

"You can see these guys (in the qualifier) fighting for their livelihoods, and it's also the best time to get autographs of the (main-draw) stars," Flory said.

The two-night Seniors tournament features mixed doubles. The men are Mansour Bahrami, Mark Woodforde, Luke Jensen and Tom Gullikson; the women are Hana Mandlikova, Gigi Fernandez, Beth Herr and Tami Whitlinger-Jones.

Tennis time in Cincinnati

What: Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

When: Friday-Aug. 8 (Seniors tournament Friday-Saturday, qualifier Saturday-Aug. 1, main draw Aug. 2-8).

Where: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com