RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Morocco faces the world's top player when they take on Brazil in a Davis Cup tie starting on Friday but their biggest headache is more likely to come from the stands.

	Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten always makes a point of playing for his country in the Davis Cup.

The match will be played at the same private club in Rio de Janeiro as last year's quarterfinal against Slovakia where the crowd showed scant regard for tennis etiquette.

Throughout the tie Slovakia had to cope with all sorts of distractions when they were serving, including the ringing of cellular phones, whistling, hissing, shouting, dogs barking, car horns and at one stage a low-flying aircraft.

The away team suffered similar distractions during rallies as well as taunting from the home players.

Match officials seemed powerless to bring the crowd under control and the International Tennis Federation's decision to allow the venue to be used again must raise serious doubts about the credibility of the competition as a whole.

Brazil's team is likely to be the same as the one that defeated Slovakia and was then whitewashed by Australia in the semifinals last year.

Gustavo Kuerten, who finished top of the ATP rankings last year, and Argentine-born Fernando Meligeni will play the singles, with Kuerten lining up alongside Davis Cup veteran Jaime Oncins in the doubles.

Kuerten will face Morocco's Karim Alami in the opening . Alami was chosen by the North Africans at the expense of Younes El Aynaoui, Morocco's second-best player according to the world rankings at 52nd to Alami's 65th.

The second singles pits Meligeni against Hicham Arazi, Morocco's top player.

El Aynaoui was not even picked for Saturday's doubles in which Alami and Arazi will take on Kuerten and Davis Cup stalwart Jaime Oncins.

But Brazil captain Ricardo Acioly said he was not surprised by the decision, made after a week of mystery over the Morocco line-up.

"It was what we expected, given that they have three excellent players," Acioly said.

Unlike some other top players, Kuerten always makes a point of playing for his country in the competition.

Neither Kuerten nor Meligeni, however, has made the greatest start to the season.

Kuerten bowed out of the Australian Open in the second round last month and Meligeni was dumped out of last week's Colombia Open in a humiliating first round 6-2, 6-0 loss against David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Alexandre Simoni, the fourth player, is likely to be used only as a reserve, despite reaching the semifinals in Colombia.

A temporary stand holding 10,000 people has been built to host the tie at the Marapendi club in Barra da Tijuca, an Americanized beach-side suburb favored by Rio's so-called "emergentes" (new rich) including many top soccer players.

Ticket prices suggest that, despite the huge popularity enjoyed by Kuerten, tennis remains an elitist sport in Brazil. The cheapest seats cost $50, two-thirds the wages of most Brazilians.