MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov reached the Australian Open semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui on Wednesday.

Kafelnikov never faced a break point as he won his first set in 19 minutes. He next plays 12th-seeded Magnus Norman, who beat No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4) with help from double-faults by Kiefer on a break point in the second set, the third set's set point and match point -- Kiefer's seventh of the match.

	Magnus Norman hung tough against Nicolas Kiefer, saving five break points early in the second set.

On his way to his first Grand Slam semifinal, Norman saved five break points in the second set's first game and held serve the rest of the way. The Swede reached match point with a low backhand serve return that Kiefer half-volleyed into the net.

"That was a huge part of the game," Norman said of the saved points. "He had been controlling the points. From then on I played a great match."

Kafelnikov said, "I'm already overjoyed that I'm in the semifinal," adding that he hoped he was wrong in earlier predicting that he would not keep his title.

Kafelnikov said that for the first time in the tournament "I felt like I was enjoying myself on the court."

"I never expected I would get this far in the tournament," he said. "Once I got through the first two matches, I started to believe in myself a lot more."

But he rated the semifinalists from the other half of the draw -- No. 1 Andre Agassi and No. 3 Pete Sampras -- as the world's two best players.

"Pete is a legend," Kafelnikov said.

Still, he added, they might have a bad day.

Commenting on his own No. 2 ranking, Kafelnikov said, "I'm sure they also appreciate that I won two Grand Slams, which is obviously separating me also from the other guys. They know how hard it is to win a Grand Slam, so I think I'm welcome in their club."

This was the first time two Moroccans reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

Hicham Arazi, in his third try to reach a major semifinal, ran into Agassi.

El Aynaoui said he was happy to pick up his game and make Kafelnikov work hard at the end.

"In the beginning it was a bit of everything -- playing the quarterfinal on the center court, and my legs were feeling pretty heavy," he said. "Against this type of player you really have to be fit and be 100 percent, and that was not the case today," he said. "I had problems with my serve, with my left leg."