Philippoussis knocks top seed Kuerten out of Paris semi-finals

The second seeded Safin was playing the day's second semifinal at the Bercy Omnisport, taking on 12th seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. If Kuertem had won the semifinal and Safin lost his, the Brazilian two-time French Open champion would have snatched the top standing in the season-long Champions race.
The loss was the second time in as many weeks Kuerten was knocked out by an Australian. He was beaten in last week's quarterfinals in Lyon by Patrick Rafter.

Kuerten and Safin head the field for the eight-man Masters Cup season wrapup event in Lisbon beginning in just more than a week. Philippoussis will end his season at the Stockholm Open starting Monday.
The end of the Philippoussis-Kuerten match was dramatic, with the Aussie coming through on his fourth match point after saving five set points for Kuerten.
The first set remained locked with serve as Philippoussis confronted the Brazilian's growing comfort factor indoors, where he has yet to win a title.

Kuerten sent the opener into a tiebreaker with a service winner after 40 minutes of dead-even struggle. The Australian 13th seed moved to a 4-1 lead and came within two points of the set when Kuerten returned wide.
Kuerten started a late recovery at 5-2, then earned another point from a Philippoussis error. But the Aussie found himself with three set points after a Kuerten return went out.
The Brazilian saved the first with an unreachable dink cross-court and he pulled to within one when Philippoussis put a return short. But the Australian finally produced a wining backhand approach volley to earn the tight set after nearly an hour.

The second set was a duplication of the first until Kuerten got into trouble in the 11th game. The Brazilian faced a break point at 5-5, but saved it.
He recovered to take a 6-5 lead with an ace, throwing the pressure back on Philippoussis. In the ensuing tiebreaker, the Australian saved three Kuerten set points, the last as the top seed muddled a volley at the net.
Philippoussis earned a match point when Kuerten put a forehand into the net, but the Aussie hit a backhand long, then saved Kuerten's fourth set point with a cross-court winner.

Philippoussis got his second match-winning chance, which was salvaged by the Brazilian with a leaping overhead. Kuerten repeated his heroics on a third match point for the Australian.
Philippoussis nullified a fifth Kuerten set point, scrambled for a winning return and took the win as the top seed sliced a backhand wide. dpa bs dh

(ba/dpa)