Tennis: Spain's family affair

EMILIO and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain's brother and sister partnership, knocked out the holders, Switzerland, from the Hopman Cup mixed teams' tournament in Perth yesterday.

The Spaniards, seeded third in the 12-nation contest, reached the semi-finals when they won their singles matches against Claudio Mezzadri and Manuela Maleeva- Fragniere respectively.

Both rubbers went the distance, Arantxa defeating Maleeva-Fragniere 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 while Emilio eventually wore down Mezzadri 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in 145 minutes.

The Spaniards, who won the Hopman Cup three years ago, will now meet Australia's Wally Masur and Nicole Provis or the Czech Republic pair of Petr Korda and Jana Novotna in tomorrow's semi-finals.

In another quarter-final, Guy Forget and Nathalie Tauziat, of France, wrapped up victory over the United States, overcoming MaliVai Washington and Mary Joe Fernandez 6-4, 6-2 in the deciding mixed doubles. Tauziat lost to Fernandez 6-1, 6-7 6-4 in the women's singles, but Forget revived French hopes when he got the better of Washington 6-3, 6-4. France face either Germany or the Ukraine in the semi-finals on Thursday.

On the other side of the country, in Adelaide, Sweden's Nicklas Kulti made a solid start in the Australian hard-court championships, defeating the local favourite, Mark Woodforde.

Kulti, ranked 79th in the world, celebrated his return to the scene of his first career title with a 6-4,

7-6 win over the Australian, who was aiming to win this event for the third time.

Woodforde's early exit completed a poor day for the Australian contingent, with Todd Woodbridge also losing 6-2, 6-2 to the American, Jonathan Stark.

Results, Sport in Short, page 27