Tennis: Kafelnikov deprives Stich of title

Yevgeny Kafelnikov continued his rise through men's tennis yesterday by beating the defending champion, Michael Stich, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final of the German Open in Hamburg. The 20-year- old Russian will next play another young player who has made his mark quickly, the Ukraine's Andrei Medvedev, who beat Javier Sanchez, of Spain, 6-4, 6-1 in the other semi-final. Kafelnikov set up the meeting with his 19-year-old childhood friend by disposing of Stich in only 74 minutes, coming back from 2-4 down in the second set with two breaks of service.