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| October 27, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba'an 9, 1422 |
Kafelnikov enter semis
ST PETERSBURG, Oct 26: Second-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov breezed through to the St Peterburg Open semifinals by beating France’s Fabrice Santoro 6-1 6-4 on Friday.
Kafelnikov said he had felt fit enough to beat Santoro despite a gruelling three-set thriller the previous day against compatriot Mikhail Youzhny, whom he finally defeated in the early hours of Friday morning.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Kafelnikov will meet either fellow-Russian Marat Safin or Goran Ivanisevic.
In an earlier match Germany’s Rainer Schuettler knocked out hard-hitting Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-5 6-3. In Saturday’s other semifinal the unseeded German will play French qualifier Michael Llodra who eliminated Austria’s Stefan Koubek 6-3 6-3.
It will be Llodra’s first ATP semifinal.
Thursday’s second round results (prefix number denotes seeding): Stefan Koubek (Austria) beat Andrei Medvedev (Ukraine) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2; 2-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-7 (1-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5; 3-Marat Safin (Russia) beat Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-6 (8-6); Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-4; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) beat 7-Greg Rusedski 7-6 (14-12) 6-4
Friday’s quarterfinals: Marat Safin (Russia) beat Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) 6-3 7-6 (7-0); Michael Llodra (France) beat Stefan Koubek (Austria) 6-3 6-3; 2-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat 6-Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-1 6-4; Rainer Schuettler (Germany) beat Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 7-5 6-3.
BASLE (Switzerland): Second-seeded Briton Tim Henman eased into the quarter-finals of the Swiss indoor tournament with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Andrea Gaudenzi on Thursday, strengthening his bid for a place in the Masters Cup.
The top remaining seed after world number one Gustavo Kuerten lost in the opening round to France’s Julien Boutter on Wednesday, Henman needed just under an hour to dispose of the 58th-ranked Italian, who has won just two indoor matches in eight events this season.
Henman will now meet either fifth-seeded Frenchman and Australian Open finalist Arnaud Clement or Swiss Michel Kratochvil, who play later on Thursday.
Champion in 1998 and runner-up in 1999, Henman has reached the semifinals every year he has played in Basle and will have to produce a similar effort this time to earn a ticket to the season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney, to which only the world’s top eight players are invited.
But George Bastl guaranteed the presence of at least one home player in the last eight, winning a battle of tie-breaks against Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 7-6 7-6.
Thursday’s second round results (prefix number denotes seeding): 6-Andy Roddick (U.S.) beat Nenad Zimonjic (Yugoslavia) 6-4 7-6 (7-4); Julien Boutter (France) beat Andrei Pavel (Romania) 4-6 6-4 6-0; Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) beat 5-Arnaud Clement (France) 6-3 1-6 7-6 (8-6); 7-Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Nicolas Thomann (France) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4; 2-Tim Henman (Britain) beat Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy) 6-2 6-1; George Bastl (Switzerland) beat Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-1); Nikolai Davidenko (Russia) beat Marc Rosset (Switzerland) 7-5 6-1—Reuters
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