Tennis: Kafelnikov targets No 1 spot

YEVGENY KAFELNIKOV found the going tough but eventually claimed victory at the Generali Open at Kitzbuhel, Austria yesterday, and in doing so moved a step closer to his goal of finishing the year as the world No 1.

The Russian top seed, who led the world rankings for six weeks earlier this year, was made to fight hard to beat the little-known Czech Slava Dosedel 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 in the second round. "It wasn't an easy match but I seem to be in the same routine as always - win the first, lose the second and then win the third - it's nothing new." Kafelnikov said afterwards.

"If I can win this tournament then I know I will have the confidence to fight for my big goal which is to finish the year as world No 1.

"I don't know how realistic that goal is, as there are lots of guys who have been collecting a lot of points this year. But I'm going to try."

Kafelnikov has only triumphed in a single ATP Tour tournament so far this year, at Rotterdam, and came in for criticism for his poor performances while he was world No 1.

"The criticism really hurt. It was not such a nice time for me. I tried to stay away from it in order not to completely lose all my confidence," he admitted.

"But I had a lot of satisfaction being No 1 even though I wasn't performing like a No 1 at the time.

"I have achieved most of my goals. There aren't very many left - to win Wimbledon would be one. I hope I will be able to achieve them all in the next four to five years before I retire."

Kafelnikov revealed that unlike other players who were preparing for the US Open, which begins on 30 August, on hard courts, he had chosen the clay of Kitzbuehel in order to boost his morale.

"I haven't been playing too many tournaments lately. So I decided to come here to get some match experience before moving on to the hard surfaces ahead of the US Open."

Another player with world rankings on his mind yesterday was the former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. The Dutchman has pulled out of his country's Davis Cup team for its fixture with Ecuador in September so he can concentrate instead on preparing for Grand Slam tournaments.

"This is all about his career," Krajicek's manager, Cees van Veen, said in the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. Van Veen said that Krajicek primarily wanted to defend his seventh place in the world rankings.

The winner of the tie, beginning on 24 September, qualifies for the 16- nation World Group in next year's Davis Cup.