Yevgeny Kafelnikov was talking a good Wimbledon for a man allegedly lacking confidence and motivation, after he successfully defended his Gerry Weber Open grass-court title in Halle, Germany, yesterday.
The 24-year-old Russian beat Magnus Larsson 6-4, 6-4 in 64 minutes to complete a week which could prove a turning point in his mediocre year to date. "I'm going to be tough to beat over five sets at Wimbledon," he said. "I'm coming back to my old self."
Since he won February's Guardian Direct Cup in Battersea, Kafelnikov has barely strung two victories together. But after trading breaks with the dangerous Swede in the opening games he hit some of his best returns to break serve four times - a serve which had not been broken in four matches up to the final. He also hit some sweet volleys as his comfort on grass increased.
"I enjoyed the game today because I was feeling loose," he said. "I played solid, aggressive, eager. It just shows my confidence has come back a little."
His two main concerns lie with his serve, which still looks vulnerable against sharp returning and is unreliable at critical moments, and the fact that he tends to throw in one bad performance every few matches.
One such almost proved his undoing in Saturday's semi-final against another Swede, Thomas Johansson. After grafting a 7-6, 43 lead, he mysteriously phoned his girl friend on his mobile while Johansson was treated for a thigh strain, and promptly lost his service rhythm.
As Johansson took the match into a final set Kafelnikov lost his cool and picked up a warning for smashing his racket, but he recovered to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. He has lost many such close matches in recent months, so that was a real advance.
Rain rescued Steffi Graf in her semi-final at the Edgbaston Classic yesterday. Graf, continuing her comeback after injury, trailed France's Nathalie Tauziat 3-0 in the opening set when the rain set in. It proved to be a frustrating 29th birthday for the former world number one. Graf dropped her serve in the second game and complained bitterly to a line judge when a ball which looked long was not called out.
The event will continue today with the Graf-Tauziat match followed by the second semi-final featuring Elena Likhovtseva of Russia and Indonesian Yayuk Basuki.
A plan to finish the event indoors yesterday was abandoned because of a shortage of seats for spectators.
