Kafelnikov Advances to Final

They closed the roof today for the men’s semifinal between 10th-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Tommy Haas of Germany, and Kafelnikov was bothered because he once lost to Haas in an indoor tournament.

His irritation on this rainy day was brief. Less than two hours later, Kafelnikov reached the Australian Open final, defeating Haas, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, serving 16 aces. It is the first time Kafelnikov, 24, has returned to a Grand Slam final since winning the French Open in 1996.

He plays unseeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in Sunday’s final. If anything, Kafelnikov has become more impressive in the later rounds. He needed five sets to get past Andrei Pavel of Romania in the fourth round, and then subdued 15th-seeded Todd Martin, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

“One thing I have to do well to stay in the match against Thomas is to hold my serve,” he said. “I know I will get my chances. I know it is going to happen sooner or later. Thomas is known for, I wouldn’t say for choking in matches, but in the match against [Mark] Philippoussis he was two sets to love up and serving for the match and all of a sudden he thinks and it turns quickly around.

“I will get my chances. But I definitely feel I am the underdog.”

Haas, 20, had never been past the third round of a Grand Slam event and hardly had any chances against Kafelnikov. In all, he had four break-point opportunities, and was able to convert one chance.

The resurgence by Kafelnikov, who struggled greatly in 1998, can be traced to his recent association with coach Larry Stefanki. This is his second event with Stefanki, and it was duly noted that Marcelo Rios reached the final here last year when he was coached by Stefanki.

“We will see at the end of ’99 if he [Stefanki] is genius or not,” Kafelnikov said, smiling.