Get gone, Guga, make way for Sampras. Norman and Ferrero, clear the track, here come Krajicek and Henman. Stand aside, Squillari, leave the spotlight to? Gianluca Pozzi?

The change from the patience and discipline of the clay court game to the one-strike tennis that pays dividends on grass is drastic and brutal. And a whole new cast of characters invade centre stage in the grass court season that is as short as the bounces are low.

Pete Sampras will of course be the odds-on favourite to win his fourth straight Wimbledon title in a remarkable seven-year period where the only man to beat him on the "hallowed lawns" was Richard Krajicek in 1996. Krajicek, who is coming off a long layoff brought on by his recurring knee problems, will be one of the few serious contenders to Pete's throne, provided he avoids early-round hiccups like last year's head-scratcher of a loss to Lorenzo Manta. Mark Philippoussis, who was worrying Sampras in l ast year's Wimbledon quarterfinal before succumbing to injury, will also have to be reckoned with.

If the Queen's Club tourney this week is any indication (and it may not be!), British hopefuls Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski appear to have diminished chances this year. Henman, who has played admirably at Wimbledon until running into Sampras in the last two semifinals, had his confidence rocked by a shocking first-round loss to qualifier Bob Bryan and has accepted a wild card in an attempt to get back on track in Nottingham next week. As for Rusedski, he has been having such serious problems with his s erve that his former coach Tony Pickard, who is now working with Marat Safin, asked Greg after his second round loss to Marat, "Who changed your serve?" Rusedski explained that he is still struggling with his motion in the aftermath of off-season foot surgery. Bad news for the Canadian-in-exile, since if the serve is not working he doesn't have much else to fall back on.

An interesting second tier of contenders would be Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Lleyton Hewitt, and, why not, Goran Ivanisevic! The Croat can be trouble for anyone if his serve gets rolling for a fortnight. And let us not forget French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, who did reach the quarters at last year's Wimbledon and is diligently working on his serves and volleys on artificial turf in Brazil (in between his surfing outings!).

Andre Agassi, runner-up to Sampras last year but injured in a nasty spill at Queen's Club this week, is something of a wild card in the Wimbledon picture. Other than his outstanding Australian Open and Davis Cup showings, his season has been disastrous and his fortunes will have to change in a hurry if he is to approach his results of last year. Another wild card is Patrick Rafter, who will likely be unseeded and who has been labouring in a comeback from shoulder surgery. But Pat did reach the semifinal s last year. Rafter lost honourably to Krajicek in Halle this week and may be turning the corner.

The names of the leading contenders on the women's side, where surface specialization is not quite so acute, do not vary that much from the list of French Open favourites. Martina Hingis will likely rebound from last year's horrible first round loss to Jelena Dokic and reach the late rounds, but the Swiss star has not won a major tournament in over a year and one wonders if her career has already plateaued. Defending champion Lindsay Davenport would logically be a title threat, but as was the case at Ro land Garros, her injured back is a major concern.

To these question marks hovering over the heads of the top two women, we must add a few more question marks for Mary Pierce and Monica Seles. Pierce, the impressive French Open winner, does not have a grass-friendly game, much like the popular and accomplished Seles. But then again, that's what everyone said about Davenport until 1999.

This could open up interesting possibilities for Venus Williams. The tall American gave Steffi Graf a very tough fight in what was perhaps the best match of last year's Wimbledon. Furthermore, at the French Open she showed signs of regaining some semblance of consistency in her game. With her booming serve and hard groundstrokes Williams could be the woman to beat this year.

The second tier of contenders, who could make things interesting with favourable draws, would have to be headed by the literary star of this season, former Wimbledon finalist and ageless wonder Nathalie Tauziat. And we might see good things from Anne-Gaëlle Sidot, who has an aggressive and grass-friendly game, and has been tipped by none other than Tauziat herself as a woman to watch at SW19 this year. The struggling Anna Kournikova, who has been gaining more attention for her sports bra promotions than her tennis of late, has excelled at Wimbledon in the past and could conceivably do so again.

Can we expect surprises to pop up as copiously as they did last year, when Jelena Dokic, Alexandra Stevenson and Mirjana Lucic amazed the galleries? Hard to say: if we knew, they wouldn't be surprises, would they?

Okay, I'll go out on a limb: watch for Iroda Tulyaganova and Tzipora Obziler to march to the semifinals!