Forget the games. Most of the cameras at the Australian Open are focussed away from the courts.

After Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi, the glitzy tennis circuit may have another love match.

Russia's Anna Kournikova and towering Aussie Mark Philippoussis are serving up a treat for newspaper editors after the pair were reportedly spotted kissing in a car.

"Well, we're just friends. I know him from Florida. I've known him for a very long time," said 18-year-old Kournikova, who once dated ice hockey star Sergei Federov.

But this doesn't stop the gossips.

Kournikova cheered from the Centre Court stand as big-serving 23-year-old Philippoussis - nicknamed The Scud - beat fellow Aussie Andrew Ille.

Kournikova, thought to be the most photographed woman in sport, remains cool. The Moscow-born pin-up, who travels the world with her mother, said she had watched the match because her coach had told her to.

"Me and my coach discussed many times that it's good for me to watch men's matches because their game is different and they're doing a lot of things right."

Pressed again about a romance, she said: "I'm not saying anything. I would not want to discuss my private life."

Philippoussis was also curt. "I've known her for years and that's pretty much it," he said, adding that he "laughed" at rumours of a love match.

The pair have known each other since their days on the junior circuit and both have homes in Florida.

Philippoussis is not the first tennis player to be romantically linked with Kournikova, following Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

Now the Aussie has a date on the court with Agassi. There are likely to be as many eyes on the spectators as the players.