Ferreira and Rafter in a battle of the top seeds at Manchester

yesterday.

The 22-year-old South African -- seeded No.1 to win the #29,000 first

prize -- now plays second-seed Patrick Rafter in today's final.

Ferreira, who went into the match protecting a 100% record against the

defending champion, broke Stoltenberg in the opening game of a contest

lasting just 64 minutes.

''After that I just kept up the pressure,'' said the world No.22

following a straightforward 6-4, 6-4 success. ''I didn't really let him

have much of a chance.''

Ferreira's only anxious moment came after having broken Stoltenberg in

the fifth game of the second set.

He found himself love-40 down, but strung together an unbroken

five-point sequence to establish a 4-2 advantage.

Stoltenberg, sporting a baseball cap to shield his eyes from the sun,

saved two match points in game nine before finally perishing on

Ferreira's serve in the tenth.

''It was as good a match as I could have played,'' claimed Ferreira,

who faces Colombian Mauricio Hadad in his opening match at Wimbledon

next week.

''I enjoy playing on grass and I just wish there were more tournaments

on the surface,'' he said.

''The ones we have are all crammed into about a three week period and

it would be nice to spread them over five or six weeks.

''This is the first time I have played a tournament leading up to

Wimbledon and I have really enjoyed it. You can become bored with too

much practice.''

Rafter, the new smash hit of Australian tennis, scraped into the final

by the closest of margins.

The 21-year-old from Brisbane -- the third youngest of nine children

-- edged out Czech Karel Novacek 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) after a

thrilling third set tie-break. All 36 games in a power-packed semi-final

went with service.

In the end, it was unseeded Novacek's eighth and most costly double

fault of the contest which proved crucial. That gave match point to

Australia's new find, and another big booming serve by the world No.26

ensured his place against Ferreira.

Rafter has dropped his serve only once in four matches in the #200,000

event and yesterday smashed down 20 aces compared with Novacek's 14.

''I'm feeling good,'' declared Rafter, ''but there are still certain

parts of my game that need working on, and I'm not telling which parts

-- that's top secret.

''You can't beat match practice and I'm sure this game has not take

anything out of me.''

* MEREDITH McGrath and Linda Harvey-Wild will contest the first final

between unseeded players in the history of the Eastbourne tournament

when they clash for the Volkswagen Cup and a #53,000 first prize today.

World No.39 McGrath avoided the danger of a let-down following her

quarter-final defeat of Eastbourne favourite and defending champion

Martina Navratilova when she defeated Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki 6-0, 7-5

yesterday.

At least the crowd had heard of McGrath after the previous day's

audacious coup, but it was more a case of ''Linda Harvey-Who?'' after

the unsung world No 43 toppled the sole surviving seed, No 4 Natalia

Zvereva, 6-4, 7-5 in the other semi-final.

Those with longer memories recalled that Harvey-Wild finished

runner-up to Lori McNeil two years ago, having upset Navratilova in the

second round, and yesterday she beamed: ''I love grass.''

While McGrath and Harvey-Wild were celebrating their progess to the

final, tournament organisers and television officials must have been

bemoaning their lot.

Today's showdown, between two friends who often practised with each

other as juniors, is the first final between non-seeds on the WTA Tour

this year.