Krajicek Overpowers Kafelnikov in Final

With only three weeks remaining until the world championship, Richard Krajicek picked a nice time to win his second Eurocard Open on Sunday at Stuttgart, Germany.

Krajicek used an overpowering serve to defeat Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, and move into the eighth and final position for the world championship at Hanover, Germany. The seventh and eighth positions are still up for grabs.

Krajicek, who had ousted fifth-ranked Andre Agassi and top-ranked Pete Sampras en route to the final, was devastating against Kafelnikov.

The 26-year-old Dutchman never faced a break point on his serve and did not give up a point in his first four service games.

He took the first set with an ace on his second set point and had 21 aces in the match.

In the second set Kafelnikov saved two set points but then hit a forehand long to trail by two sets. Then the Russian, ranked No. 10 in the world, made things worse for himself by losing his first service game of the third set. From there, Krajicek breezed, winning match point with a backhand volley that broke Kafelnikov’s serve again.

Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, entered the tournament ranked 11th. But his second title of the year most likely will push him into the top 10 when the rankings are announced today.

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Seventh-seeded Tara Snyder made the most of her first appearance in a WTA tour final by coming back to defeat fifth-seeded fellow American Chanda Rubin, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), in the $164,250 Bell Challenge at Quebec City, Canada.

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Czech Jiri Novak ended Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse’s hopes of winning his first ATP Tour title by sweeping the teenager, 6-3, 6-3, in the final of the $315,000 Mexican Open at Mexico City.

Competing in only his fifth career ATP Tour event, the 18-year-old Malisse upset top-seeded Felix Mantilla and defending champion Francisco Clavet en route to his first professional final.