ADELAIDE. Apr 3: Pat Rafter, who sparked Australia's 4-1 first-round upset of defending Davis Cup champion France, will again play the opening match against the Czech Republic on Friday at Memorial Drive, reports AP.

Rafter, who scored a five-set victory over Cedric Ploline at Sydney's White City in February. was Thursday drawn to play Martin Damm in the first singles of the World Group quarterfinal.

Mark Philippoussis, Australia's highest-ranked singles player, will face Jiri Novak in the second singles match.

Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, the top-ranked doubles combination in the world, meet Czech pair David Rikl and Pavel Vizner in Saturday's doubles with the reverse singles slated for Sunday.

Australia, which has won the Davis Cup 26 times, is field ing its strongest combination on its favorite grass court surface. but the Czech Republic has been hit by the retirement from Davis Cup play of stalwart Petr Korda and the unavailability of Bohdan Ulihrach. Daniel Vacek and Slava Dosedel.

Philippoussis will be playing a Davis Cup match in his homeland for the first time, while Woodforde will take a lesser role after starring in both singles and doubles in Australia's first-round win over Frsince.