Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Kafelnikov offers no excuses for early ouster
Russian claims it's hard to beat the 'young guys'
By Michael Perry and Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[img]](http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/08/06/schuettle_150x200.jpg)
Rainer Schuettler eyes a backhand during his first round match against Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
(Gary Landers photo)
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MASON — Fifth-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov was quicker to blame his performance rather than the scorching heat for Monday's first-round loss to Rainer Schuettler (6-3, 6-2) at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
The upset occurred in the first completed match of the day at the ATP Tennis Center. It was Kafelnikov's earliest exit in Cincinnati since 1995, when he lost his first match to Bernd Karbacher.
Kafelnikov, 28, who has never won the event, was a semifinalist in 1998 and '99, and a quarterfinalist in 1996, 1997 and 2001.
He hasn't won a tournament since the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last October, and admits he isn't playing with as much confidence as in years past. Schuettler also beat Kafelnikov in the quarterfinals in Doha, Qatar in January.
IF YOU GO
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What: Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
Where: ATP Tennis Center, Mason.
Today's schedule: Sessions at 11 a.m., 7 p.m.
TV: 1-3 p.m., ESPN (live), 10 p.m.-midnight, ESPN2 (same-day delayed)
Tickets: Available for both sessions at $20 each. Call 651-0303 or TicketMaster at 562-4949 (www.ticketmaster.com).
Click here to view tournament draw bracket
(Acrobat PDF file, 10K)
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“It's just, I think, a logical process,” Kafelnikov said. “Other guys are getting better, and obviously for us (veterans) it's becoming tougher and tougher to be playing that kind of level like we played before.
“There are obviously many different ways to deal with it. I think you have got to train three times harder than you did to keep up with the young guys, and sometimes it's hard. You have got to make a strong decision whether you really want to again go through the hard way or just kind of let it go.”
Does Kafelnikov still have that drive?
“I am in the undecided period,” he said. “But it is a nice feeling when you are in great shape, you are competing hard and you are unbeatable. On the other hand, when you are running out of steam, it's the worst feeling you could have, losing to the guys that you aren't supposed to lose to.”
Not that getting beat by Schuettler was that unexpected. The 26-year-old German is No. 25 in the 2002 ATP Champions Race; Kafelnikov is 23rd.
Schuettler is making only his second appearance in Cincinnati. He played here in 1999, defeating Thomas Johansson and Magnus Larsson before losing to Pete Sampras in the round of 16.
Schuettler, who next faces Jan-Michael Gambill, had lost his first match in three straight tournaments and said he had time to practice in the heat of Toronto last week and Cincinnati starting Saturday, when he got into town.
“I was in good shape,” he said. “I think that was the difference (Monday). ... I started playing good, aggressive from the baseline, made only a few mistakes ... and I tried to make him run.
“With him, you never know. Maybe from the outside it looks sometimes that he's not trying, but he's trying really hard. And, of course, he doesn't want to lose. It's always dangerous playing against him.”
ANOTHER UPSET: Right after Kafelnikov's loss on the Grandstand Court, Ivan Ljubicic ousted 10th-seeded Roger Federer 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Federer is 0-2 all-time in Cincinnati.
Ljubicic was a surprise quarterfinalist here last year — before losing to Lleyton Hewitt — after getting into the main draw through the qualifying tournament. The 23-year-old Croatian also got into the main draw in 1999 the same way.
He next plays Xavier Malisse.
TEEN IN TOP 10: Andy Roddick climbed to a career-high No. 9 in the latest world rankings, released Monday. He becomes the first American teen-ager to inhabit the top 10 in 11 years.
The last to do so was Pete Sampras, whose final week as a teen-ager was Aug. 5, 1991, when he ranked No. 8. A footnote: July 8, 1991, was the last week with two American teens in the top 10, as 19-year-old Michael Chang, at No. 10, joined Sampras.
“This was definitely something I was shooting for,” Roddick said. “I moved up 140-some places last year, but once I got in the 16, 17, 18 range, it's tough to keep moving up so fast. I'm glad to make it. I'll try to keep building on that.”
PETE AN UNDERDOG: How tough is Sampras' draw? He's seeded, yet opponent Guillermo Canas is the higher-ranked player.
Seedings were set on last week's rankings, when Sampras was 15th. Canas is unseeded because he was 19th last week. But Sampras dropped a spot to No. 16 in the rankings Monday, and Canas' Tennis Masters Series Canada title helped him leap to No. 12.
Sampras' ranking was also No. 16 for a couple weeks in July. Sixteenth is the lowest Sampras has been ranked since being No. 19 on July 23, 1990.
XAVIER ON XAVIER: A couple of years ago, Xavier coach Jim Brockhoff forwarded an XU tennis sweatshirt through the ATP to Belgian pro Xavier Malisse. Monday, he met Malisse and gave him two XU T-shirts.
“He got a big kick out of it,” Brockhoff said.
Malisse, a Wimbledon semifinalist, beat Julien Boutter in three sets Monday.
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![[img]](http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/08/06/schuettle_zoom.jpg)
Kafelnikov offers no excuses for early ouster