Kafelnikov passes first test

Friday 12 July 1996 23:02 BST
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Tennis

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the top seed and defending champion, moved into the semi-finals of the Swiss Open with a straight sets win over the Spaniard Francisco Clavet in Gstaad yesterday.

It was the first time in the tournament that the French Open champion had been forced to work for victory - but he won 6-3, 7-6.

After spending less than an hour on court in each of his first two matches, the Russian needed more than 90 minutes to see off the unseeded Clavet, who began the tournament with a first- round upset of the Wimbledon finalist, MaliVai Washington.

In today's semi-final Kafelnikov faces the Spanish sixth seed, Alberto Costa, who beat Italy's Renzo Furlan 7-6, 6-2. The other semi-final pits the Czech Republic's Bohdan Ulihrach against Spain's Felix Mantilla.

Ulihrach earned his place in the final four by defeating Sergi Bruguera, who has won the Swiss Open three times, 6-4, 6-4. It was the first time the Spaniard had failed to reach the semi-finals of this tournament in eight appearances.

Once the sport's dominant clay court player, winning the French Open in 1993 and 1994, Bruguera has been plagued by injuries and his world ranking has slipped from No 4 to 51.

"The Bruguera of 1994 would have won that match," said Bruguera, who has not won a title since the Swiss Open two years ago.

Another Spaniard, Alberto Berasategui, looking for his fourth title in as many weeks, had his 17-match winning streak ended by Mantilla 2-6, 7-6, 6-1.

Results, Digest, page 27

Easy for Henman, page 27

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