Kuerten's status under threat after sorry exit

Visitors to the Masters Series tournament at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Berçy know they can look forward to an innovation or two as soon as they see the skateboarders executing eye-popping manoeuvres on the steps outside.

If the tennis is dull, spectators find other ways to amuse themselves. The other day we were treated to squadrons of beautifully crafted paper darts launched by youngsters in the cheaper seats. Whatever the quality of the matches, bongo drums enliven the change-overs.

Attendances have been high, and the place was packed yesterday, a public holiday, All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead. A crowd of 14,000 on Centre Court saw Gustavo Kuerten, the reigning world No 1 and champion of Monte Carlo and the French Open, lose in the third round to Sjeng Schalken, of the Netherlands, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. It was Kuerten's sixth defeat in his last seven matches – and this time against a man he had beaten in each of their six previous meetings.

At the same time, 1,100 spectators crammed into Court One to witness the fall of Marat Safin, the defending champion, to Andreas Vinciguerra, of Sweden, 6-4, 6-4. This result could be said to have gone with form, Vinciguerra having won his three previous matches against the Russian. This defeat was the most the most painful for Safin, ending his prospects of qualifying for the $3.75m (£2.58m) Masters Cup in Sydney in 10 days' time.

"Safin was very nervous," Vinciguerra said. Safin preferred to put his loss down to fatigue. "I've played too much tennis, and I just couldn't do any more," he said.

Vinciguerra's win was encouraging news for Tim Henman, edging the British No 1 closer to a trip to Sydney as a substitute. Within hours, however, Sebastien Grosjean, of France, defeated Christophe Rochus, of Belgium, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals. One more win and Grosjean will trample on Henman's passport either by supplanting him as the nominated substitute or by going on to secure an outright place in the draw.

Henman's chances of qualifying as a first choice for the eight-man event ended on Wednesday, when he was dispatched in the second round by Julien Boutter, a French wild card. Boutter's progress was halted yesterday by Jiri Novak, of the Czech Republic, who won, 6-3, 7-6, to advance to the quarter-finals.

Kuerten's defeat adds spice to the Masters Cup, particularly from Lleyton Hewitt's point of view. The Australian, eliminated in the second round here, can overtake Kuerten on the line in the race to No 1 if he has a successful tournament in Sydney.

Tommy Haas, of Germany, took another step towards qualification yesterday, reaching the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-1 win against Xavier Malisse, of Belgium. Haas is also on course to win back-to-back Masters Series titles, as Andre Agassi did in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne in March. But the German will have to beware the impressive form of Sweden's Tommy Johansson, who defeated Nicolas Lapentti, of Ecuador, 6-3, 6-3.

Haas has grown increasingly confident in his game and his training methods since winning back-to-back titles in Vienna and Stuttgart recently. "My consistency has been the best it's ever between on the Tour," he said. "I don't know if I could have played like this two years ago. If I lose, then at least I'm giving it my best. Maybe I haven't been able to do that in the past sometimes."

Yevgeny Kafelnikov has yet to add a Masters Series title to his Grand Slam successes in Australia and France and the gold medal he won at the Sydney Olympics. But he has qualified for the year-end men's tour championships for the seventh time in a row. His prospects of winning the title here improved yesterday when he defeated Albert Costa, of Spain, 6-3, 6-4. Kafelnikov meets Novak in the quarter-finals.

"I never have a game plan before each match," Kafelnikov confided. "I always kind of look at it as a match progresses. Then I know what I need to do to win." He wins some, he loses some.

The Masters Series, sparsely televised in Britain, is likely to attract a bigger audience with confirmation by Sky Sports yesterday that it will broadcast all nine tournaments live for the next three years. ITV 2 recently ended its coverage.

Results, Digest, page 25