Rafter shows Kuerten the door

hong kong, october 6: Patrick Rafter kept his mood light and shirts freshly changed in the heat and humidity to knock top seed Gustavo Kue...

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hong kong, october 6: Patrick Rafter kept his mood light and shirts freshly changed in the heat and humidity to knock top seed Gustavo Kuerten out of the quarter-finals of the $ 375,000 Salem Open, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, on Friday.The seventh seed from Australia got the only break of serve for 5-4 in the second set in a contest lasting one hour, 26 minutes and saved all four break points he faced against the Brazilian.

The battle of two-time Grand Slam winners was a good-natured affair despite a few swipes of the racket at the court by Kuerten in moments of frustration.Kuerten, who now heads to next week’s ATP Tour event as top seed while Rafter carries on in Hong Kong, said his loss was a story of missed opportunities.

Third seed Nicolas Kiefer moved ahead, 6-2 6-4, as he eliminated fifth seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. The German Kiefer plays against either three-time winner Michael chang of the US or British second seed Tim Henman. Rafter ended kuerten’s first appearance at the Tour event here in a workmanlike style, saving two break points in the final game.

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He scored the afternoon’s sole break to take his second-set lead after Kuerten had saved one break point on a Rafter error. A game later, the Australian earned a match point, then put a backhand into the net.

Serena enters semi-finalsTOKYO: Serena Williams did not serve her best but the American second seed unleashed an array of unstoppable winners to beat Jelena Dokic at the Princess Cup tennis tournament on Friday.

Williams powered her way through to a 6-3 6-4 quarter-final victory over the Australian.

In the semi-finals on the morrow, Williams will take on Czech qualifier Daja Bedanova, who continued her excellent seed-killing run by beating fifth seed Amy Frazier of the United States 5-7 7-6 (7-0) 6-2.

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Five-time champion Monica Seles kept on course for a probable final showdown against Williams by elimiating the last local hope, Shinobu Asagoe, 6-3 6-4.Seles will meet fourth seed Julie Halard-Decugis of France.