Tennis: Rafter all at sea in Sydney

Pat Rafter's Masters Cup challenge came to a sorry end as he was beaten by Sebastien Grosjean of France in the Sydney SuperDome.

Grosjean won 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in 82 minutes in the John Newcombe Group, and after his opening loss to Andre Agassi he now has no chance of making the semi-finals.

The result assured Lleyton Hewitt of a place in the semis, though, after his earlier win over Agassi made it two wins from two matches for the US Open champion.

Rafter appeared to be struggling with shoulder and arm injuries in a match that will sap his confidence ahead of Australia's Davis Cup final match on November 30 against Grosjean's French team.

Grosjean was serving for the first set at 5-3 and then had to serve to force a tie-break after Rafter strung together three consecutive games.

The pair traded breaks in the tie-breaker until Rafter miscued a forehand.

Grosjean got a crucial break in the sixth game of the second set when Rafter missed with a lunging volley. He finished with forehand cross court winner.