Dubai, Feb 28: Former world number Yevgeny Kafelnikov's bid to resurrect his career suffered a setback when he became the fourth seed to be knocked out of the one-million-dollar Dubai Open yesterday. The Russian was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Hicham Arazi, one of the game's great under-achievers who is having one last try after considering quitting. The Moroccan, currently outside the top 100, was nevertheless striking the ball well from the start and, deriving strength from Arabic support in the crowd, remained unusually controlled and calm throughout a finely balanced contest.
The eighth-seeded Kafelnikov was surprised by the consistency as well as the force of Arazi's counter-hitting, and the break of serve which he conceded in the third game of the final set proved crucial. The other seeds to have been beaten on previous days, were Marat Safin (2), Tim Henman (4) and Younes El Aynaoui (7).
Arazi now plays the top-seeded Roger Federer, who overcame Germany's Maximilian Abel 6-4 7-5. The other quarter-final line-up to be decided is between the Croatian Davis Cup hero Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Atilla Savolt of Hungary 6-4 6-4, and Rainer Schuttler the Australian Open finalist from Germany, who beat Belarussian Max Mirnyi 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-6 (10-8).
Bureau Report