A summary of Yevgeny Kafelnikov's career might read: won more than £8 million and 17 singles titles but only one Grand Slam event. Potential unfulfilled.
When the Russian won the French Open in 1996, beating Pete Sampras in straight sets in the semi-final and dropping only one set throughout, there seemed good reason to suppose the man from Sochi, on the fringes of the Black Sea, might be the one to relieve the American of the world number one spot.
"To be honest it's hard for me to find the answer why I have not done better in the grand slams since," Kafelnikov said. Technically the 24-year-old remains one of the most accomplished players in the world but, like so many of those highly gifted post-war Soviet football teams, he so often appears to lack a cutting edge at crucial moments.
Yesterday, after defeating Germany's Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the Australian Open semi-final, he continued to look like a man who had lost £1 and found 10p, until somebody reminded him of what he had achieved and he duly broke into a huge smile. "Yes, I know. Really it's a wonderful feeling. I have never felt happier." But Russians, like Lancastrians, are sometimes never so happy as when they are miserable.
After he had won at Roland Garros, Kafelnikov, the number 10 seed in Melbourne, eschewed the lights of Paris and returned to Sochi for a Russian family dinner cooked by his mother Valentina. He has since married and has a three-month-old daughter Aleysa.
"My wife, Mascha, has been wonderful to me. She told me I had to concentrate and my aim at the start of the year was to win another Grand Slam. I would give up all my other titles to do that," said Kafelnikov, who now faces the unseeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in the final.
The two have met on six previous occasions with Enqvist holding a 4-2 advantage, including two wins last year. "I definitely feel like the underdog because Thomas has been playing so well since he arrived. Lots of guys felt that they had a chance to win here, and that feeling grows once you get past the first few rounds. There is no doubt that Pete (Sampras) is the best player of the decade and his absence (here) freed it up for everyone else."
Kafelnikov survived a difficult first-round match against Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and was then severely tested by both Australia's Jason Stoltenberg in the second round and Romania's Andrei Pavel in the fourth.
In the quarter-final he knocked out a physically exhausted Todd Martin of the United States and yesterday's win over the 20-year-old Haas was little more than routine. It was, effectively, an indoor match, with intermittent rain forcing the organisers to close the roof.
Kafelnikov rarely allowed his concentration to waver. Haas offered glimpses of his undoubted potential but was unable to repel the Russian's relentless ambition. "You cannot buy experience. Tommy played some great shots but they were at the wrong time. He will learn."
Kafelnikov and Enqvist are both baseliners who have been competing against each other since they were juniors but the Russian, who also has 18 career doubles titles, is an excellent volleyer.
He is now being coached by Larry Stefanki, formerly with Chile's Marcelo Rios and a onetime adviser of John McEnroe. "I needed someone to help me improve my serve, and my motivation," said Kafelnikov. "I'm now trying to conserve my energy and concentrate on the Slams."
Enqvist, who along the way to his first Grand Slam final knocked out Australia's Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis, will have the greater support, but at this level has been much more of an under achiever than Kafelnikov, reaching only one previous quarterfinal, here in 1996.
The 24-year-old Swede has a reputation for mental fragility, although of his 17 career finals he has won 14, which scarcely suggests a choker.
"I think it will be a very long match," said Kafelnikov. "Against Philippoussis Thomas was two sets up and the deal was done. But he allowed Mark back in and it went to five sets. I think he choked then."
However, the Russian allowed a similar situation to occur against Pavel. "Well, sometimes I choke too," he said with a grin. It promises to be an absorbing final which will see Kafelnikov climb to number three if he wins.
