Beginning this afternoon at 1:30 p.m., when Mayor Carl B. Stokes "throws" out the first ball to open the Davis Cup Challenge Round matches, Cleveland will be the logical place to ask the question: "Tennis, Anyone?"

The city, or more precisely the Harold T. Clark Courts on Roxboro Road in Cleveland Heights, will be the focal point of the tennis world, as the American Davis Cup team takes on a talented counterpart from Spain.

Spicing the affair with home town flavor is a young man named Clark Graebner, who first earned notice while prepping at Lakewood High before leaving town to continue his education at Northwestern University.

THE TALL and talented local swinger is now garnering headlines for his brilliant play on the tennis courts the world over, but the climb to the top has been a long and arduous one.

It wasn't too long ago that Graebner might have wondered whether it had all been worth it. He not only was having a difficult time in the world of tennis, but also in his attempts to use the pride of the Bell System -- the telephone. One day, it went thus:

"Hello, hello, this is Clark Graebner in London."

"Who, who?", asked the feminine voice in New York.

"MR. GRAEBNER, I want to speak to Mr. Miller."

"Graebner?", she asked again.

Then a pause.

"I'm sorry, we know of no Mr. Graebner here." And with that came that ever so final click of the receiver.

That abortive transatlantic telephone call took place several months ago when sales representative Graebner tried to call the home office of the Hobson-Miller Paper Co.

SINCE THAT ill-fated attempt to reach the boss, Graebner has set the tennis world on its collective ear. And even that harried operator now knows of Clark Graebner.

The 24-year-old tennis playing globetrotter has shared the London Grass Court championship with the Netherlands' Tom Okker. He reached the semi-finals of the famed Wimbledon Open. And he won the National Clay Court crown with a convincing final victory over Californian Stan Smith. He is back in town today with the United States Davis Cup team.

DAVIS CUP captain Donald Dell rated Clark as the finest player in America today. This kind of recognition is not just a happenstance. A great deal of hard work made it possible.

Graebner hopes one day to be Davis Cup captain and with the experience he has gained this year he will be a likely candidate for the lofty position.

"I'm in better shape than I've ever been in," Graebner said when asked about his sudden improvement. "I run every day and it may be a selfish reason, but I want to be on the winning Davis Cup team more than anything else."

"I'M MORE consistent in my play than ever," he added. "I've always wanted to win, but I think I've gained the confidence I needed this year."

Victories have done more than restore Graebner's confidence. They have brought him the same belated recognition that Dennis Ralston now is accorded as a top-ranking professional.

Little kids who rooted against Clark because he was a Northwestern stereotype instead of a Manuel Santana (from Spain) now stand in line for his autograph and envy his serve, one of the strongest in tennis.

Clark Graebner is at the top of the tennis world, but he won't be satisfied until he helps bring the Davis Cup back home from Australia in December. And a big step in that direction begins today when he faces the best that Spain has to offer.

Tennis, anyone?