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Kuerten tops Henman and Rafter, wins Cincinnati event

MASON, Ohio (AP) - Gustavo Kuerten, playing on 20 minutes rest after finishing his rain-delayed semifinal match, beat Patrick Rafter 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati.

Kuerten looked invigorated rather than fatigued by an extra 50 minutes of tennis before the title match. He beat seventh-seeded Tim Henman 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4).

While Rafter had trouble finding his most effective serve, Kuerten was sharp with his placement, as he has been all week.

Rafter failed to hold serve three times in the first set. Kuerten beat him the first time with a passing shot, Rafter double-faulted on break point in the second and was out of rhythm throughout the third.

There was just one break in the second set, when Rafter tried to drop a shot just over the net. But Kuerten was able to reach it and flick it out of Rafter's reach.

Rafter has appeared in the finals of his past three tournaments but has lost all three, including Wimbledon in July and last week at Montreal.

However, he has always played well in Cincinnati. He beat Pete Sampras for the championship in 1998 and was runner-up to Sampras in 1999. He did not play last year because of a shoulder injury.

Kuerten, who overtook Andre Agassi for the lead in the ATP Champions Race this week, has won 16 career titles, 13 of them on clay. However, he has won 23 of 25 matches since beginning his campaign for his third French Open title.

Both players had large cheering sections Sunday.

A band of Kuerten's supporters wore yellow shirts, waved Brazilian flags and chanted during switchovers.

A woman lofted an orange sign that read, "Patrick, please don't go, mate."

Rafter has said he may take a break of several months from tennis.

The Kuerten-Henman match included two rain delays and spanned nearly six hours over Saturday night and Sunday morning.

With Henman serving, Kuerten scored the first two points of the match before play was suspended because of rain. Following a 2 hour, 21 minute delay, play resumed and Kuerten went on to win the set.

Then Henman began to assert himself, and by the time it started to rain again, Henman was leading the second set 5-1.

Officials waited more than an hour and a half before deciding shortly after midnight to finish the match Sunday morning.

When play resumed, Henman held his serve and took the second set.

The third set went to a tiebreaker, following one break apiece. With Henman serving, he hit a return long for match point.

Kuerten had lost both previous matches with Henman, including the semifinal match here last year in a tiebreaker.

"I think overall I played a pretty good match," Henman said. "But when it comes down to a third-set tiebreaker, it's obviously a pretty close run thing. Last year, it went my way; this year, it didn't."

END

TENNIS MASTERS SERIES CINCINNATI Aug. 12, 2001 - Kuerten Claims TMS
Cincinnati Shield

Gustavo Kuerten defeated Patrick Rafter in straight sets to capture the title.

ATP Champions Race 2001 leader Gustavo Kuerten captured his second Tennis
Masters Series title of the year with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Patrick Rafter
in the final.

The win was Kuerten's second of the day after the Brazilian completed his
semifinal against Britain's Tim Henman in a final set tie-break just 20
minutes before starting the final. Kuerten now has won six titles on the 2001
ATP circuit, and the Cincinnati shield marks his fifth Tennis Masters Series
victory.

"I don't know how I did it," said Kuerten. "I think all my life I'm still
going to think about this."

Kuerten, who dropped only two sets all week with victories over Andy Roddick,
Tommy Haas, Goran Ivanisevic, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Henman en route to the
final, needed just an hour to claim his third career hard court crown
(Indianapolis, Tennis Masters Cup).

"I had already played for an hour on the court [against Henman], so I was
very relaxed," said Kuerten, who regained first position in the ATP Champions
Race from Andre Agassi after reaching the semifinals. "The first set [against
Rafter] was probably the best set I had played all week. I was always making
him guess what I was going to do next, I mixed up my game and I didn't give
him too much rhythm."

With Brazil celebrating Fathers' Day, Kuerten dedicated his victory to his
"four fathers" following the death of his own when Guga was a child. "This is
for my brother, who has been like a father to me, my coach, my mother, my
father, who still lives inside me, and for all the fathers in Brazil," said
Kuerten, who hit 26 winners.

Rafter, who was playing in his third consecutive final (Wimbledon, Montreal)
and his third in Cincinnati in four years, said he had been totally
outplayed. "The last two finals I've played have been very, very close," said
Rafter. "But today, I never got myself in with a chance, largely because Guga
played so well."

The Australian had only lost his serve twice all week - once against Greg
Rusedski in a marathon quarterfinal that lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes and once
against countryman Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals - but he couldn't control
Kuerten's powerful returns and was broken four times in the match.

Rafter, winner in Cincinnati in 1998, thought the rain break might have
helped his opponent prepare for the final. "Sometimes it works in your
favor," he said. "When you play singles and doubles, it helps you see the
ball so well. He served extremely well - he's never served that well against
me - and I have to give him full credit. I take my hat off to him."

Having earned 100 Race points for winning the title, Kuerten now moves 59
points clear of Agassi at the top of the Leader Board, while Rafter moves
closer to the leaders in fourth position.

Earlier in the tournament, defending champion Thomas Enqvist lost in the
first round to Nicolas Kiefer, Andre Agassi went down against Gaston Gaudio
and three-time champion Pete Sampras was defeated by Alberto Martin.

END--http://www.atptennis.com/en/newsandscores/news/

Sunday, August 12, 2001
Will Rafter take advantage or vacation?

Planned hiatus could interrupt a hot streak

MASON — Patrick Rafter has left himself no loopholes. He is headed toward a break in serve that might span six months and might mean goodbye, and he can't imagine the conditions that could change his mind. He has picked a bad time to be playing his best tennis.

It is not altogether clear whether Rafter's upcoming vacation is a sabbatical, a retirement or a hoax. Rafter may not know himself. But before the affable Australian does anything drastic — before he bags the gypsy life for good — he should consider that his window of oppor tunity will never again be so wide and that it may soon be shuttered.

"He's probably playing the best tennis he's ever played," Lleyton Hewitt said Saturday. "And he's playing maybe as good as anyone in the world right now."

Barely a month after his five-set loss in the Wimbledon final, Rafter advanced to his third straight tournament championship Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal conquest of Hewitt in the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati.

Rafter's signature serve-and-volley game has lately been augmented by superior ground strokes. He has won 16 of his last 18 matches, 10 of them in straight sets, and approaches the U.S. Open with a head of steam that could lift a locomotive.

Tennis players peak young and they sometimes stop early. Bjorn Borg won six French Opens and five Wimbledon titles by the age of 25, then quit as abruptly as an appliance whose cord has slipped from its socket. Mats Wilander won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments the year he turned 24, but subsequently played as if semi-retired.

Patrick Rafter is 28 years old, and his best moments may already be memories. Yet watching him at work Saturday, physically drained and yet competitively dominant, it was hard to think him in need of a hiatus. He looked like a guy who should be gearing up instead of throttling back.

"I have no idea what could change my mind," Rafter said. "But I don't think much. It's not going to be advice from anyone. It's my life. I think it's time to make my own decisions. And this is what I want to do."

Rafter's plan is to cease competition with the December Davis Cup (should Australia advance to the finals), and then leave the tour for a minimum of six months to relax, recharge and review his options. When the tennis world descends on Melbourne for the January Australian Open, Rafter intends to be exploring other parts of his homeland.

"I'll be just driving around Australia," he said. "I want to have a look around. I haven't seen much of it."

With two U.S. Open titles on his resume, and more than $10 million in career winnings to his credit, Rafter's accomplishments afford him some alternatives. He has been the world's No.1-ranked player — if only for a week in 1999 — and he carried the Olympic torch past the Sydney Opera House last summer.

Rafter has known thrills enough for 10 lifetimes. But he has also known the disappointment of reaching successive Wimbledon finals and losing both. How much that nags at him we can't know till next summer, when Rafter decides whether to come back to the courts.

"I really hope that I can find something else in my life that can give me a really good fulfillment and enjoyment," Rafter said Friday. "I'd really love to walk away, I really would."

The more he wins, the harder the walk.

Rafter in top form but feels no joy

from The Weekend Australian, 11-12 August 2001

Robert Lusetich found Pat Rafter more than ready to give the game away

If the shadows are stretching further across Patrick Rafter’s tennis career, it is because he wants them there.

In dispatching America’s James Blake in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals at the Masters Series event in Cincinnati yesterday, the 28-year-old Queenslander won the 14th of his 16th matches.

Even though the losses came n finals in which he was expected to prevail – to Goran Ivanisevic at Wombledon and Andre Pavel in Montreal – Rafter is playing as well now as at any time in his career and will go into the US Open later this month a deserved favourite.

Yet none of this has even remotely swayed him in his determination to lay down his racquet at the end of this year.

“Not at all, not at all,” the two-time US Open champion told The Australian.

He has said publicly he will take a break for six months, but in his heart he hopes it will be forever.

When asked if he hopes to rekindle hispassion for the game during his sabbatical, Rafter replied emphatically: “I want to take six months off to see if I miss it … (but) I hope I don’t miss it. For me, I hope I don’t miss it.”

In a wide-raning interview, Rafter revealed the constant travelling and demands have taken their toll.

“There’s a certain amount of enjoyment I am still having, getting off the court and wimning still feels good, but overall … it’s just all the constant playing, the constant pressure and all of those sort of things. I just want to see if I can do without them,” he said.

Even in the midst of an enviable winning streak, Rafter says the good days don’t outweigh the bad.

“What are the bad days like? I don’t know, I just wake up sluggish, not really wanting to be there,” he said.

“This is my 12th year of travelling and it gets old. It’s not much fun having to go out there with the expectations people have of you when you’re in that (mindset); when you know you can’t give it everything you’ve got because you sort of don’t really want to be there. You don’t really feel like performing.

“And you know you have to deal with people expecting you to win and when you don’t they get down on you. You get booed. I don’t enjoy that and I won’t miss that.”

After Wimbledon, Rafter spent three week shuttered away in his Bermuda jome, rarely venturing out.

“Wimbledon’s always been a dream and I think that’s why it’s so disappointing,” he said.

“Losses are never fun, but this one … I think it’s something I’ll reflect on later, when my career’s over.

“You don’t get too many opportunities to (realise) dreams you had as a kid an dI feel I let that one go. (Last year against Pete Sampras) maybe I was just happy to be in the final, but this time I really felt like it was my chance.”

He would not say, “last chance”, but it did not require much reading between the lines to understand that the notion weighed heavily on him.

Raft3er also took time to reflect on his relationship with Sampras, who is in the midst of one of the worst slumps of his career, yet has no intention of retiring.

Sampras has even increased his training regime. Rafter, by contrast, happily doesn’t have one.

“I’m sick of it,” he said.

After Rafter won his first US Open, in 1997, the Americal media positioned him as the sport’s pin-up boy. His face was on magazine covers and billboards. Sampras, meanwhile, who might be the best player in the games history, was considered boring and largely ignored.

Sampras, Rafter believes, took this to heart and held it against his Australian rival, even though Rafter was hardly to blame.

Prior to the two meeting at the final of this Cincinnati event in 1998, Sampras was asked the difference between them. “Ten grand slams,” he replied, facetiously.

Two days later, Rafter beat Sampras in the final after a contentious overrule by the chair umpire on match point. Sampras refused to shake the umpire’s hand and barely acknowledged Rafter. The bad blood between them boiled, culminating in one of the great US Open matched: Rafter beating Sampras in a five-set semifinal en route to his second US Open. A few months later, Rafter, as amicable a professional athlete as exists, called Sampras to diffuse their feud. Their relationship is hardly warm but certainly polite.

“We say g’day now but it’s not like we take it much further than that,” the Australian said.

“We’d never ever go out to dinner or anything like that. We’re just very different people.

“I guess he took things personally. For some reason, I just seemed to piss him off, rub him up the wrong way and I never knew why.

“Maybe a little bit of it was that I stole his thunder. Pete has always struggled with that whis whole career. He would have loved to have had the following that Agassi did but ne never did.

“I think he’s never really seemed satisfied with who he is, he’s always fighting it rather than just accepting it.

“I don’t kno whtat he’s ever reall been happy being who he is and you look at what he’s done and it’s hard to understand that for someone like me.”

As he embarks on the fifth set of what has been a memorable career, Rafter is taking time to reflect.

“I never expected the success anything like what I’ve achieved, nothing like it,” he said.

With that success has come a fame with which he has never been very comfortable.

“The better you’re doing, the more commitments you have, the nicer you have to be,” the said during a news conference this week.

“So it’s not natural?” asked the journalist of Rafter’s easygoing manner.

“It’s not natural, I’m such a fake,” Rafter said, breaking out that irresistible smile. “I just want to be an arsehole. Looking forward to it.”

Sunday, August 12, 2001
Rafter in third straight final

After two defeats, Aussie vows different approach

By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MASON — Patrick Rafter lost in the finals at Wimbledon. Then he lost in the finals at Tennis Masters Series Canada a week ago. The popular Australian has advanced to a championship match for the third straight tournament, and he vows to approach it differently.

Rafter, the ATP's hottest player, plays today for the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati title.

His opponent? Well, that isn't known yet. The second semifinal was postponed at 12:15 a.m. today after a second rain delay — with Gustavo Kuerten leading Tim Henman 6-2, 1-5 — and will resume at 11:30 a.m. today.

Earlier in the week, Rafter said he has always tried to look at a final "like any other match." Not today.

"I'm going to go out there and be really pumped up this time," he said. "Hopefully, it will work."

The Cincinnati tournament will have an all-top-10 final for the 15th time in 17 years.

Kuerten is No. 1 in the world, Rafter 8 and Henman 7.

Since the Cincinnati tournament - which has gone by several names over the years - began seeding players in 1927, only once has a player not seeded Nos. 1-7 won: unseeded Miguel Olvera in 1960.

Rafter could become the second. Should he win, it would be his first title this year. Kuerten has won five in 2001, Henman one.

This is Rafter's third trip to the finals here in his last three appearances; he defeated Pete Sampras in 1998, lost to Sampras in '99 and didn't play here last year because of a shoulder injury. He has won 14 of his past 15 matches at the ATP Tennis Center.

Rafter, 28, has said he plans to take six months off near the end of the year, and he may not return to tennis. Ever.

If that's the case, he could go out on top.

Lleyton Hewitt, who lost to Rafter 6-4, 6-3 Saturday, said, "He's probably playing the best tennis he's ever played, and he's playing maybe as good as anyone in the world right now."

Greg Rusedski, who lost to Rafter on Friday, called him the favorite to win the U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 27. "If he gets past the first round, he's pretty dangerous," Rusedski said.

Rafter won the U.S. Open in 1997 and '98.

He has faced Henman five times and leads the series 3-2. Rafter and Kuerten have split their previous six meetings.

In 1998, Rafter was the hottest player on tour when he faced Sampras - then No. 1 in the world - and beat him for the Cincinnati title. He would face a No. 1 in the final again, if Kuerten gets there.

"I'm a lot more confident playing Guga than if I'd be playing Pete," Rafter said. "With Guga, I feel like I can go out and beat him at least 50 percent of the time. I'm sure he has the same attitude about me.

"But ... you never feel confident playing Pete. (You) just hope you get close and give yourself an opportunity to win. Pete's one of the greatest players of all time."

Rafter has played Kuerten only once on hard courts, winning in Hong Kong in 2000.

"I think the conditions here suit my game pretty well," Rafter said. "Guga is a great champion, and he'll know what to do and how to play me."

Henman lost to Thomas Enqvist here last year in his only Tennis Masters Series final. He has never reached a Grand Slam final.

"I played very well against Timmy this year in the Australian Open," Rafter said of his 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory in January. "(That) was definitely the best match I played against him. And he's played some good matches against me, as well."
Rafter Through to Third Final

Patrick Rafter won the battle of the Australians to move through to his third
final in four years at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati with a 6-4, 6-3
victory over Lleyton Hewitt.

Rafter, who played two consecutive finals against Pete Sampras in 1998 and
'99, was back to his best as he defeated his young countryman for the first
time.

"My game's getting better, my groundstrokes are getting better and I'm
feeling as good as I've ever been," said Rafter, who awaits the winner of
tonight's second semifinal between new ATP Champions Race 2001 leader Gustavo
Kuerten and last year's finalist, Tim Henman.

Hewitt, who has also reached the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Series
events in Miami and Hamburg this year, took a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over
Rafter going into the semifinal. And the 20-year-old from Adelaide began much
the sharper of the two as he broke Rafter's serve in the third game of the
match.

Practice sets

But a costly brace of double faults at 4-3 with the score at deuce
gift-wrapped the game to Rafter, who broke again two games later to take the
first set in 45 minutes, despite a disputed line call on set point. The
second set was all Rafter as he opened up a 5-2 lead with his trademark serve
and volley game and wouldn't let Hewitt dominate from the back of the court.

"I've played a lot of practice sets against Lleyton, and today felt like one
of those practice sessions," said Rafter. "Lleyton got off to a great start,
but then played a pretty bad game [at 4-3] and let me in. I felt really good
from there."

Despite the defeat, Hewitt acknowledged that he had been beaten by the better
player on the day. "I didn't serve too well today," said Hewitt. "Pat's too
good a player to be giving him a look at my second serve. And with the
results he's had - three finals in a row - he's probably playing the best
he's ever played and he's one of the best players in the world right now."

Having lost in his last two finals at Wimbledon (Ivanisevic) and Montreal
(Pavel), Rafter said: "I'm going to be really focused tomorrow and hope to
get off to a good start. I'll be really pumped up and hopefully it will work."

END--http://www.masters-series.com/cincinnati/frameset.html

Rafter beats Hewitt to reach final at TMS -- Cincinnati
SportsTicker

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Patrick Rafter finally got the best of fellow
Australian Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday to advance to the final of the $2.95
million Tennis Masters Series -- Cincinnati.

Rafter defeated Hewitt for the first time in three career meetings, posting a
6-4, 6-3 semifinal victory.

Later on Saturday, new ATP Champions Race leader Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil
will square off with Britain's Tim Henman in the semifinals here for the
second straight year.

After going down a break in the opening set, No. 8 Rafter won the last four
games to take the first set. The 1998 champion also broke No. 5 Hewitt's
serve in the fourth game of the second set and then held on to reach the
final here for the third time.

Hewitt downed Rafter, 7-6, 6-1, in both of their previous encounters coming
in the first round of the 1999 Sydney hardcourt tournament and the second
round of the 1999 Scottsdale hardcourt event.

But Rafter served six aces and won 87 percent of his first-serve points on
Saturday to overpower Hewitt.

"I always struggle playing Lleyton," Rafter said. "I'm always a little bit
nervous when I play him. But today, things just went my way."

The Australian stars have known each other since 1997, when they repesented
their country in the Davis Cup against France at Sydney, and Rafter and
Hewitt remain friends.

The 28-year-old Rafter, who has indicated he may retire from the ATP Tour,
has reached the finals of his last two events. He lost to Goran Ivanisevic of
Croatia at Wimbledon and to Andrei Pavel of Romania last week at Montreal.

"I think I've just got to be more intense in myself, hopefully just want it a
little bit more," said Rafter, who is 0-4 in his last four appearances in ATP
finals. "I just try and go with the same attitude like I did today --
whatever happens, happens -- and it makes it very relaxed. But I've tried to
have that attitude in the finals and it's just not working. So, I think I've
got to get a bit of fire in my belly and get out there and get pumped up."

Rafter's last tournament victory came at the Heineken Trophy in June 2000.
Last year, he lost to Pete Sampras in the championship match at Wimbledon and
Arnaud Clement in the final of the Grand Prix at Lyon, France.

Hewitt's best result in a Tennis Masters Series event came at Stuttgart last
year, when he lost in the final to South Africa's Wayne Ferreira.

In his six appearances at 2001 Tennis Masters Series events, Hewitt has
reached the semifinals four times. He suffered a three-sets defeat to Andre
Agassi at Indians Wells and lost in straight sets to Jan-Michael Gambill at
the Ericsson Open and Albert Portas at Hamburg.

Hewitt, 20, enjoyed a strong grasscourt season, winning two of his three
titles on the surface at the Stella Artois and Heineken Trophy events. He
also captured the adidas International hardcourt title at Sydney.

Rafter reaches final in third consecutive tournament

By TERRY KINNEY
Associated Press Writer
August 11, 2001

MASON, Ohio (AP) -- Patrick Rafter beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-4, 6-3 in an all-Australian semifinal Saturday in the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati.

Rafter will play the winner of Saturday's late match between top-ranked Gustavo Kuerten and seventh-seeded Tim Henman.

Rafter and Hewitt had faced off only twice before, both in 1999, and Hewitt had won both matches.

This time, Hewitt could not handle Rafter's pressure tactics and superior shot placement.

``He's probably playing the best tennis he's ever played,'' Hewitt said. ``He's playing maybe as good as anyone in the world right now.

``Once he's got his serve going, he's very tough to break out there. I regard my return of serve as one of the best in the world, and I couldn't get that much on it today.''

Both players had reason to be weary. Each won three-set, nearly three-hour matches Friday. Hewitt was scheduled to play a doubles match after that but defaulted, saying he had an upper respiratory infection.

Rafter said that must have been a factor.

``Lleyton played an ordinary game and gift-wrapped it for me,'' Rafter said. ``I was trying to put him under pressure and I was trying to force the errors, and he did give me some cheap ones.

``But Lleyton kept fighting and almost got an opportunity to get in the match. And you don't want to give someone like him the opportunity.''

Although the air remained heavy, the temperature Saturday stayed in the 80s, about 10 degrees cooler than earlier in the week. Still, the 28-year-old Rafter said he had trouble getting started.

``I play a lot of practice sets against Lleyton and I never get off to a good start in a practice set. So I thought of it like that,'' Rafter said.

``As the match progressed, Lleyton put on a pretty bad game to hand it back to me, and from then on I played really well and put the pressure on him and kept it on.''

The 20-year-old Hewitt broke Rafter in game three, inducing Rafter to hit game point into the net. Rafter got back on serve in the eighth game when Hewitt staved off two break points before double faulting twice to square the set 4-4.

Rafter held his serve, then won the set when he hit a blistering shot down the line and then induced Hewitt to hit long -- a call that Hewitt disputed.

The second set proceeded routinely until the fourth game when Hewitt was broken, hitting long twice and into the net twice. Rafter served out the next game with an ace to make it 4-1, and both players held serve the rest of the way.

Hewitt has won three ATP Tour events this year, but has lost four times in the semifinals of the more prestigious Tennis Masters Series.

Rafter has always played well in Cincinnati, where he was the winner in 1998 and runner-up to Pete Sampras in 1999. He did not play last year because of a shoulder injury.

Rafter has lost in the finals of his past two tournaments, at Wimbledon in July and then last week in Montreal. He has talked of taking a break of several months and says his success this week has not changed his thinking.

``I had a good week last week, and it didn't change,'' Rafter said.

Rafter beats Rusedski in quarters at Cincinnati

MASON, Ohio, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Australian Pat Rafter came from a set down to
beat Briton Greg Rusedski 5-7 7-6 6-4 on Friday in the quarter-finals of the
Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati.

In a marathon match that lasted two hours 47 minutes, eighth seed Rafter
failed to convert 14 break points but cashed in the 15th and went on to win.

Rafter took advantage of the fourth break point in the ninth game of the
third set by smacking a sizzling forehand return of a tired serve by
Rusedski.

The Wimbledon finalist then served out the match at love with an ace on the
final point.

Minutes after the match ended a thunderstorm forced the quarter-final between
fifth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic
into a rain delay.

Rafter did not so much squander his opportunities on the first 14 break
points as Rusedski consistently saved himself with spectacular serving.

"I was getting very frustrated and it was eating away at me," said Rafter.
"In the second set I was completely knackered. I knew after I won the second
set, though, I'd have more chances."

In the second set, Rafter finally got the upper hand when Rusedski
double-faulted on the seventh point of the tiebreaker to take the necessary
minibreak.

Rafter, who now has a 7-3 career edge over Rusedski, believed he had the
stamina to outlast the Briton because he "felt as good as he had all week
long and that made me hang in there."

Pleased with his performance despite the loss, Rusedski did question a
crucial overrule by umpire Norm Chryst in the fourth game of the third set.

Leading 15-30 on Rafter's serve, Rusedski hit a lob that was deemed in by the
linesman, but then judged out by Chryst.

If the linesman's call had stood, Rusedski would have been at 15-40 with two
opportunities to break serve.

"I was a little bit disappointed and the match did come down to one or two
points," Rusedski said. "I must say Rafter played well and I have to give him
credit."

Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open champion, will meet either Hewitt or Ljubicic in
the semifinals on Saturday.

Quarter-finals between top seed Gustavo Kuerten and sixth seed Yevgeny
Kafelnikov and seventh seed Tim Henman and Jan-Michael Gambill were scheduled
for Friday evening.

Pat defeats Rusedski in the quarters BBC report

Greg Rusedski missed out on a place in the last four of the Cincinnati Masters, as Pat Rafter battled his way to a gruelling three-set victory.
The Wimbledon runner-up fought back from a set down to win a superb quarter-final 5-7 7-6 6-4 in searing heat.

Rafter, boasting an excellent record in Cincinnati, was a strong favourite, having reached the final in Montreal last week.

But Rusedski claimed the first set 7-5 and continued his impressive form in the second - only for Rafter to sneak it on a tie-break.

Rafter digs out a backhand volley against Rusedski

The deciding set was equally close as the players slugged it out in intense conditions.

Rafter, though, proved the fitter and more resilient player and he finally broke Rusedski's serve - after 15 break-points - in the penultimate game of the match.

An ace then wrapped up victory for the Australian, after two hours and 47 minutes on court.

Rusedski will have been demoralised by defeat in a close-fought match that was a repeat of the 1997 US Open final - but he can still take much encouragement after rediscovering his best form.

Servers on top

The early stages set the pattern for the match, with only one point going against the server in the first four games.

But as the set went on Rafter's serve began to lose its potency, and a brilliant backhand winner from Rusedski and a double fault from Rafter produced the first break of the match.

Rusedski had no such trouble with his own serve and took the set with an imperious ace.

Rafter refound his form on serve in the second set and chances were once more at a premium.

The Australian did carve out four set points in the 10th game, but Rusedski once again found his best form when he needed it most.

So it came down to a tie-break, and, as one might have expected, serve was dominant.

The one slip came when Rusedski slumped to a double fault. Rafter took his chance and claimed the tie-break 7-5 to level the match.

The third set followed a familiar pattern. But in the later stages Rusedski appeared to struggle as the heat intensified.

And Rafter took his chance in the ninth game of the set, securing a break of serve for the first time in the match.

There was no way back for Rusedski - and the vocal Australian contingent in the crowd were able to celebrate the closest of wins for Rafter.

Rafter may quit by September
NINEMSM

Organisers of the Masters Cup tournament in Sydney are not yet sweating over Pat Rafter's increasing disinterest in tennis.

Rafter, along with countryman Lleyton Hewitt, is slated as the major drawcard for the rich eight-man season-ending tournament to be played in Sydney in mid-November.

Sitting fourth and fifth in the champions race standings, the Australians are almost certain to make the field as long as they perform well at the US Open.

But Rafter has thrown up a scare by suggesting he could skip the entire European indoor season if Australia lost its Davis Cup semifinal against Sweden next month.

If Australia didn't make the final - scheduled to start on November 30 - Rafter said he would have no incentive to keep playing and could start his planned hiatus from the game earlier than expected.

The European indoor season, which runs throughout October, was Rafter's most hated part of the year.

"The Davis Cup will make me go to Europe and play," Rafter told DPA.

"I'd miss the whole European indoors because I hate it so much, I'd just stop playing.

"But if I'm there, I'd apply myself and do what I have to do.

"Being in that weather and playing indoors, it's a miserable feeling, no fun to play."

But Masters Cup organiser Simon Baggs remained upbeat today about Rafter's appearance at the end of year tournament.

"Pat Rafter has three aims, one is get to the US Open, to get his name on the Davis Cup trophy, and to qualify for the Masters Cup," Baggs said.

"He's never said he would take a sabbatical until after the Cup."

However, if Rafter did skip the indoor season but played the Masters Cup, he would come into the Sydney tournament off at least a six-week break.

The two-time US Open champion continued his fine form ahead of the final major of the year starting August 21 by dispatching Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-0 6-3 to reach the third round of Cincinnati Masters.

But Rafter confirmed that his break - for the moment - will be just that and not a retirement, as he had hinted when announcing the idea in early January.

"I hope I don't miss tennis," he said.

"I won't pick up a racquet, but I will train. I'll always probably keep myself fit.

"If I really miss tennis, then I might want to come back."

A downcast Rafter admitted he was again struggling to find motivation despite a month-long sojourn after Wimbledon.

"It's the constant pressure, the constant playing. I just want to see if I can do without them.

"Sometimes you just don't want to show up on court, you don't want to perform."

Australians advance to second round in Cincinnati
By Sandra Harwitt
MASON, Ohio, Aug 7 (Reuters) - It was a good day for Australia at the Tennis
Masters Series-Cincinnati on Tuesday when fifth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt and
eighth-seeded Patrick Rafter won their first round matches.

Rafter ignored the sweltering heat and the fact that he knew little about the
game of Spaniard Albert Portas to post a 7-5 6-3 win.

Under the lights, Hewitt managed to break away from Magnus Norman of Sweden
at the end of the first set to earn a 6-4 6-1 victory and move into the
second round.

Rafter has been a runner-up at his last two events coming into Cincinnati.

Playing in his second consecutive Wimbledon final, Rafter lost to Goran
Ivanisevic 9-7 in a classic fifth set and last week in Montreal, he was upset
in the final by Andrei Pavel 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3.

"Frustrated," said Rafter, when asked how hard it was not to emerge as the
winner in those recent finals. "Yes, that can be really annoying but it's
great to be there and to keep yourself in those situations."

According to Rafter, the problem has been that he might not have approached
the finals in the right frame of mind.

"I think mentally you should say, 'this is the one' and 'let's do it,"'
Rafter said. "I just approach it like any other match. Maybe I'm seeing it
wrong, I don't know.

"What I have found is I've gone through a spell of losing quite a few finals
in a row, and then winning quite a few in a row."

Despite having played six matches last week in Montreal, Rafter looked ready
for action on Tuesday against Portas, seemingly unconcerned with the hot,
humid day.

The 24th-ranked Portas held his own for most of the first set in this first
meeting against Rafter, only surrendering his serve in the final game.

Rafter, whose serve was never broken by Portas, won three games in a row from
2-2 in the second set to secure a commanding lead in the 78-minute match.

HEWITT UNLUCKY
While Hewitt holds a 53-13 win-loss record for the season with three titles
to his credit, making him the player with the most wins on the ATP tour this
year, luck has not been on his side recently.

Last week in Montreal, Hewitt fell in the second round to Hicham Arazi and
was a fourth round loser at Wimbledon.

After a slow start against the 23rd-ranked Norman, Hewitt settled into the
task of winning their 79-minute encounter and picking up the pace of his
game.

"It's hard working your way into a tournament," Hewitt said. "After the first
set, I felt I had to try and consolidate it better as the match went on."

After Norman led 4-3 in the first set, Hewitt won the final three games to
take the lead.

After holding serve in the first game of the second set, Norman never won
another game in the match, allowing Hewitt to win 25 of the 33 points played
in the last six games.

Norman ended last year as the number four player in the world, having been an
Australian Open semifinalist and French Open finalist, but he has been unable
to repeat those results this year.

Always touted as a future Grand Slam champion, the 20-year-old Hewitt claims
to ignore the pressure that brings to bear. Having reached his lone Grand
Slam semifinal at the 2000 U.S. Open, Hewitt is not predicting any better
result this year.

"I really block them (the predictions for future success) out," Hewitt said.
"I had a great run at the U.S. Open to make the semis last year.

"Experience is the difference. It's very tough to win seven best-of-five-set
matches at a Grand Slam. That's very tough for an 18 to19-year-old to do."

22:45 08-07-01

Safin upset, Sampras wins, Becker loses at TMS -- Cincinnati
SportsTicker

CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Third seed Marat Safin was slowed by an injured knee
Tuesday in another first-round loss at the $2.95 million Tennis Masters
Series -- Cincinnati.

Safin, still seeking his first tournament victory of the year after capturing
an ATP-leading seven last season, bowed out, 6-3, 6-3, to unseeded Guillermo
Canas of Argentina.

The powerful Russian, who claimed the U.S. Open last year, has lost five of
his last six matches and is just 10-11 on hard courts this season.

"I played bad, just nothing more I can say about anything," Safin said. "I
played bad and that's it. Not many things happened, actually."

Last week at the Tennis Masters Series event in Montreal, Safin was trailing
Frenchman Nicolas Escude, 6-4, 5-2, when he was forced to retire with a knee
injury. The ailment first became apparent to the 21-year-old during
Wimbledon, but he was not concerned until the tour moved to the hard courts.

"I'm OK physically, just nothing happened, absolutely nothing," Safin said.

His current form is in sharp contrast to last year when, Safin won one
tournament and appeared in another final before claiming his first career
Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.

Three-time champion Pete Sampras, seeded ninth, may have shaken off a slump
of his own with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. Showing
no signs of a nagging thigh injury, Sampras improved to 3-0 lifetime against
Lapentti.

Sampras had more trouble with hot, humid conditions at the ATP Tennis Center.

"It's a sauna," he said. "It's pretty hot. I think that's probably the
hottest conditions so far this year. It was toasty."

Sampras, who turns 30 on Sunday, has entered this event without a tournament
victory in 2001. He has not won a title since earning his record-setting
13th Grand Slam at Wimbledon last season. He reached his first final of 2001
two weeks ago at Los Angeles.

"Today my mind-set was to be aggressive, to come in and put the pressure on
him," Sampras explained. "He'd much rather have me stay back and get into
those long rallies. And every second serve I got, I was going to do
something with it. I was going to come in, use my serve and volley and be
aggressive. That was my strategy and it worked out well."

German tennis great Boris Becker made an unsuccessful return to the courts in
doubles competition. The former world No. 1 teamed with Wimbledon champion
Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia and lost 6-3, 6-2 to the top-seeded pairing of
Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and Australian Todd Woodbridge.

Becker last played on the ATP tour in a fourth-round loss to Patrick Rafter
at the All-England Club in 1999.

"Unfortunately, we played against the best doubles team in the world, so
there wasn't really much we could do together," Becker said. "But overall, I
was happy to be back here."

Fifth seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia bounced back from last week's
second-round setback in Montreal with a 6-4, 6-1 rout of Sweden's Magnus
Norman.

A former top-five player, Norman remained without a title this season after
winning five last year. He was a second-round loser in Montreal and has won
just seven of his last 19 matches.

Hewitt improved to 4-2 against Norman, winning three meetings this season.

Also Tuesday, sixth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia defeated Andreas
Vinciguerra of Sweden, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. Kafelnikov has struggled recently,
losing three of his past four matches before the victory. He is a two-time
semifinalist here and has improved to 3-0 lifetime against the young Swede.

Rafter, the eighth-seeded Australian, faced little opposition from unseeded
Albert Portas of Spain, winning, 7-5, 6-3. The Wimbledon runner-up, Rafter
advanced to the final in Montreal but remained without a tournament victory
in more than a year after a surprise defeat to Andrei Pavel of Romania.