France’s Clement Tosses Aside No. 5 Kafelnikov

The red shirt came off after a set, followed by the yellow later on and finally the pink one. The pink shirt went flying into the crowd at Rod Laver Arena. Excited female supporters chased after his shirt as if they were fighting for the bouquet at a wedding.

Arnaud Clement likes to travel light, and Wednesday he did it with French panache, stripping off his shirt, his headband, his shoes and his socks and throwing them into the stands after his 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) quarterfinal victory against fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia at the Australian Open.

For the record, Clement’s strip stopped after the socks.

It turned out the 15th-seeded Clement staged the display because of a side bet with his former coach, although the details of that transaction were not disclosed. Regardless, with all the revealing outfits on the women’s side and shirt-stripping on the men’s, this is turning into the Beach Volleyball Australian Open.

There’s no telling what Clement will do when he plays his friend, doubles partner and countryman, 16th-seeded Sebastien Grosjean, in the semifinals Friday. They have ensured there will be a Frenchman in the final of this event for the first time since 1928, when Jean Borotra won it.

“I can’t believe it, can’t believe this match today,” Clement said of the victory. “I think it is a miracle.”

Grosjean, who defeated Carlos Moya of Spain earlier, cheered for Clement against Kafelnikov. Clement was a crowd favorite for several reasons--but primarily, he has charisma and he’s not Kafelnikov. This will be the first time in three years Kafelnikov won’t be in the final at the Australian Open.

He won the title two years ago and lost to Agassi in the final in 2000, and lost any visible crowd support in Melbourne after contending that the players aren’t making enough money on the tour. He had 79 unforced errors and missed a key overhead on the first point of the third-set tiebreaker and another one on match point.

As for Clement--who had never advanced past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event--he coyly refused to reveal information on his bets with the former coach.

“I have two bets,” Clement said. “I cannot tell you what it is. After the third round, Sebastien and me in the fourth round, ‘If we are together in the semifinal, we want something.’ I cannot tell you what it is.”