Henman's power puts Arazi to flight

Tim Henman remained on course for his second title in three weeks when the No 4 seed defeated Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoor Championship in Basle yesterday

Tim Henman remained on course for his second title in three weeks when the No 4 seed defeated Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoor Championship in Basle yesterday

The British No 1, who ended a run of seven consecutive final defeats by claiming the CA Trophy in Vienna earlier this month, reached the last four with a confident performance against Arazi.

Anna Kournikova breezed into the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, disposing of compatriot Tatiana Panova 6-4, 6-1. The tired Panova, playing her fifth consecutive tournament, could challenge Kournikova only in the first set.

Fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France advanced to her fourth semi-final this year by eliminating unseeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, the first time they have played each other. Mauresmo faces world No. 1 Martina Hingis today.

Maleeva, who won the tournament in 1995, was up 6-5 in the second set and ahead 40-30 but then made a double-fault to lose the set on a tiebreaker.

"This was probably the only bad game I've played in the whole match," said Maleeva, who upset third-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain on Thursday.

Pete Sampras has withdrawn from the rest of the season's Masters Series, including the Paris Open. He will still be contesting the Masters Cup in November.