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 Friday, August 18
Kafelnikov, Enqvist ousted at RCA
 
 Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Yevgeny Kafelnikov had no one to blame but himself.

The second-seeded Russian double-faulted four times, twice in a first-set tiebreaker, in a 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to Tim Henman on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the RCA Championships.

Henman, the British star seeded seventh, advanced to Saturday's semifinals against third-seeded Marat Safin of Russia. Safin beat No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean of France 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In the other semifinal, 19-year-old Australian Lleyton Hewitt, seeded fifth, will meet top-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil.

Kafelnikov was up 2-0 in the tiebreaker before he double-faulted twice. Henman, who hasn't won a tour title since October of 1998, broke Kafelnikov in the second game of the second set.

Both Kafelnikov and Safin had to play third-round matches earlier Friday.

Safin, who took a nap after his earlier match, was broken three times and lost the first set to Grosjean in 18 minutes. He was never in trouble in the second set, however, and overcame a 2-0 deficit in to win the third.

Hewitt advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, and Kuerten, the ATP Champions Race leader, needed just 63 minutes to oust No. 10 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier in the day, Kafelnikov swept Italy's Gianluca Pozzi 6-3, 6-3 and Safin stopped Morocco's Karim Alami 6-4, 6-4.

Enqvist had been on a roll since winning last week's Tennis Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati, but both players thought Enqvist's three-set win over Carlos Moya on Thursday took its toll.

"He's played a lot of tennis," Hewitt said. "It's always hard, I suppose, going out there after he won such a big event last week and trying to perform."

Enqvist faded fast after staving off four break points in the eighth game of the second set, only to have Hewitt finally break his serve. Hewitt finished the Swede with 115- and 124-mph aces in the ninth game.

"I don't feel so well," said Enqvist, the 1995 champion. "I was really tired after the match yesterday, and I was not fit enough, and I didn't play well enough to have a chance to beat Lleyton today. He's a great player."

When asked if Hewitt's service was particularly troubling, Enqvist smiled and said, "I think I had trouble with everything today."

Hewitt felt he was on top of the world after his 47th victory in 58 matches this season.

"That's one of the best matches I've played all year," Hewitt said. "I hit the ball great out there today. Toward the end of the second set, I started really popping my serve. It makes tennis a lot easier."
 


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