Tennis: Russian far too quick for the Iceman

By Foster Niumata

MELBOURNE - The Russian was in a rush. He had a plane that was leaving in three hours for Marseilles, France. Let's make the media interview short, he asked.

Not for new Australian Open titleholder Yevgeny Kafelnikov a cooling dive into the Yarra River, a restaurant dinner or a ride on a horse the way past champions have celebrated.

The ironman who has played more than anyone in four of the last five years was in such a hurry to get to his next tournament that he didn't have time to shave a fortnight's worth of semi-beard, and had forgotten he'd left his winner's cheque for $A722,000 in the trophy that was waiting for him in the press conference.

A couple of hours earlier, Kafelnikov had suddenly seemed to realise time was running out when Thomas Enqvist won their first set in a style that suggested the hottest man coming into the Open, undefeated at Adelaide and Kooyong and on a 14-match streak, was going to become the first unseeded winner in 23 years.

But tenth seed Kafelnikov, the only seed to reach the semis, the only former grand slam winner to make the quarters, poured cold water on the scorching Swede and won nine games in a row.

Enqvist levelled to 3-3 but Kafelnikov broke for 5-3 and won the set on a leaping crosscourt smash.

In a plain vanilla match-up that will struggle to be recalled tomorrow, let alone next week, the pair who have known each other since they were 12 tried to make it memorable.

The fourth set tensed to a tiebreak where Enqvist made five errors and double-faulted on match-point to hand Kafelnikov a 4-6 6-0 6-3 7-6 victory.

"I broke Thomas mentally," said Kafelnikov, who kept hitting balls back to an impatient Enqvist, a first-time Grand Slam finalist worn down just as Jonas Bjorkman, Jason Stoltenberg, Jim Courier, Andrei Pavel, Todd Martin and Tommy Haas had been beforehand.

"When I won the French Open [in 1996] it was a quick moment and it went unnoticed," said Kafelnikov. "This feels better. I prove to everyone I am no one-slam wonder."

Shortly before Kafelnikov left his newborn daughter and wife Mascha in Germany to come down under, she said to him: "Don't go away for a month and only make the semifinals."

He took her directions to heart. He is streetsmart with a grin that suggests something wicked underneath.

In his victory speech on court, he dedicated it to himself, his family, and for his grandfather who died last month. Oh, there was one more message, for absent world No 1 Pete Sampras.

"Thank you for letting me win."