Tennis: Kuerten shows his class

Reigning champion Gustavo Kuerten swept into the semi-finals of the French Open as he piled on the misery for Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

The Brazilian clay-court king had beaten Kafelnikov twice before in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros.

Today he made it three in a row with a 6-1 3-6 7-6 6-4 triumph which saw the Brazilian step up a gear towards the form which has crowned him king of Roland Garros twice before.

Kuerten, who survived a match point against him and a huge scare in his fourth-round match with American qualifier Mike Russell, breezed through the first set.

But Kafelnikov, who won this title himself in 1996, blasted back in the second, breaking Kuerten in the fourth game and eventually taking the set on his fourth set point after two consecutive aces.

The third saw Kuerten save five break points in the ninth game before the set went to a tie-break, which saw Kuerten slide into top gear to take control of the match.

The fourth set, however, saw the best tennis of the match, both players breaking serve in a see-saw tussle and in the fifth game one rasping running forehand by Kuerten clipped the line in such spectacular fashion that Kafelnikov dropped his racket and joined in the applause.

The vital break, however, went Kuerten’s way in the seventh game and with the packed centre court crowd screaming for 'Guga' the champion eventually closed out the match after two hours and 32 minutes with a spinning serve which Kafelnikov could only push into the net.

"I don’t think he wants to see me in the draw again here," said Kuerten. "Three times I have taken him out here, it’s not nice for him. But I tried to remember little things from our past matches and I am just so pleased.

"‘These are the moments we always try to have. Two days ago I was almost out of the tournament and now I am so happy to be in the semi-final."

Kuerten identified the five break points he saved on his serve in the third set as the turning point of the match.

"That was where it changed," he said. "And then I also played a perfect tie-break."

Kuerten now plays the winner of the quarter-final between Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero and Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt.