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PARIS, Nov 1: World number one Gustavo Kuerten and title-holder Marat Safin crashed out of the $2.95 million Paris Masters Series on Thursday, leaving the door open for outsiders to win the last tournament on the regular ATP circuit.
Kuerten and Safin were the last two big-name players left in the draw after Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter pulled out while U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt and Briton Tim Henman lost early on.
Kuerten lost to unseeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 4-6 6-4 6-4, the latest upset in a bleak indoor season.
Since the U.S. Open the Brazilian top seed has won only one match, his previous round encounter with Czech Bohdan Ulihrach.
Safin bowed 6-4 6-4 to Swede Andreas Vinciguerra, leaving only two players, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and Germany’s Tommy Haas, in contention for the last spot in the Masters Cup in Sydney starting on Nov 12.
Russia will have an envoy at the Masters Cup, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who easily dismissed Spain’s Albert Costa 6-3 6-4.
The former French and Australian Open champion had already qualified for the Masters Cup thanks to his second-round win in Paris. Progressing to the quarter-finals was just a bonus.
In the next round, Kafelnikov will meet another surprise quarter-finalist in Czech Jiri Novak, who beat Julien Boutter, one of only two Frenchmen left in the tournament, 6-3 7-6.
Tommy Haas, the German number one, seeded seventh, outclassed Belgian Xavier Malisse 7-5 6-1 to qualify for the last eight, scoring crucial points in his quest for the last Masters Cup spot still up for grabs.
Third round results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) beat 1-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) 4-6 6-4 6-4; Andreas Vinciguerra (Sweden) beat 5-Marat Safin (Russia) 6-4 6-4; Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Julien Boutter (France) 6-3 7-6 (7-3); 7-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 7-5 6-1; 4-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Albert Costa (Spain) 6-3 6-4; 15-Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-3 6-3
Wednesday second round results:
6-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-1 6-4; 4-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Mark Philippoussis (Australia) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4; 15-Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 6-3 7-6 (9-7); Albert Costa (Spain) beat 14-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 7-6 (7-1) 6-4; Hicham Arazi (Morocco) beat 16-Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-4 6-4
Lindsay Davenport kept the pressure on Jennifer Capriati in the race to end the year at number one when she crushed Jelena Dokic 6-4 6-2 on Thursday to reach the last four of the WTA Championships.
Second seed Davenport, who needed to beat the 18-year-old Yugoslav to keep alive her hopes of knocking Capriati off top spot, sealed her quarter-final victory with an ace after just 58 minutes.
The battle remains wide open but Capriati has her fate in her own hands as she will stay where she is if she reaches the final, even if Davenport wins the year-end event for the world’s top 16 players.
Capriati’s chances to end her fairytale year in style suffered a blow when she had her quarter-final match postponed because of a sore throat.
A WTA spokeswoman said Capriati had asked for her match against France’s Sandrine Testud, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, to be put back until Friday.
Davenport sets up a semifinal clash against Belgium’s Kim Clijsters who defeated Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain 7-5 6-1.
Quarter-final results (prefix number denotes seeding)
3 Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) 7-5 6-1; 2-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) beat 6-Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia) 6-4 6-2
Wednesday’s first round results:
3-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Elena Dementieva (Russia) 6-3 7-6 (7-2).—Reuters
