Kuerten and Hingis through to semifinals

Top seed Gustavo Kuerten defeated Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-1 3-6 7-6 6-4 today to reach the French Open semifinals for the…

Top seed Gustavo Kuerten defeated Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-1 3-6 7-6 6-4 today to reach the French Open semifinals for the third time.

It was also the third time Kuerten has beaten Kafelnikov in a Roland Garros quarter-final, and on both previous occasions - in 1997 and 2000 - the Brazilian went on to win the title.

He will next play Spanish fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero or sixth-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who meet later today.

Top seed Martina Hingis reached the semis with a straightforward 6-1 6-4 victory over unseeded Francesca Schiavone.

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The Swiss world number one, seeking the only Grand Slam title to elude her, overwhelmed the 20-year-old Italian with a series of wrong-footing groundstrokes and deft touches around the court.

The victory, achieved in 68 minutes, put Hingis through to her fifth consecutive semifinal at Roland Garrros.

Earlier Justine Henin coasted into her first semifinal at a Grand Slam event when she beat 17-year-old Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1, 6-2 in just 50min.