 |
| |
|
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
||
 |
|||
EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|
 |
Motoring along Kafelnikov quietly into round of 16
PARIS (Reuters) -- Seventh-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov continued to work his way quietly through the French Open draw on Friday but the former champion warned that he was picking up speed. Enjoying his best run of form on clay since lifting the title at Roland Garros in 1996, Kafelnikov brushed aside Belgium's Olivier Rochus 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3 to reach the fourth round. Kafelnikov, who began his claycourt season badly by losing five of his first six matches, has suddenly found his stride in Paris. "I'm like an old diesel car," Kafelnikov said. "It's very difficult to start the engine but once the engine is going it goes non-stop. "It's only the fourth round, I've won three difficult matches, this is were the tournament really starts. "Statistics show I am improving but the matches are going to get tougher and tougher. I haven't played against quite difficult opponents yet." Kafelnikov's win streak at Roland Garros may be somewhat deceiving, with his victories coming against lucky losers Cecil Mamiit and Federico Luzzi, and Rochus, a French Open rookie. The Russian will meet Spain's Tommy Robredo, another player making his debut in the tournament, in the fourth round and remains on course for another quarter-final meeting with defending champion Gustavo Kuerten. "To be honest I'd rather play Pete Sampras on clay than those guys," said Kafelnikov, who became one of only five active players to record 500 match wins with his second round victory on Wednesday. "You have to be careful with those guys. "When they go through qualifying, they're winning three matches and have a lot of confidence." Kuerten has represented a major barrier for the Russian in Paris. Since winning the tournament in 1996, Kafelnikov has twice reached the quarterfinals, only to be stopped each time by the Brazilian on his way to the 1997 and 2000 titles.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
