Sampras saunters into final

HANOVER, NOV 15: World No 1 Pete Sampras reached the final of the ATP Tour World Championship with a comfortable victory over Swede Jonas Bjorkman today.Sampras, seeking a fourth triumph in the season-ending event for the world8217;s top eight players, needed just 75 minutes to move past Bjorkman 6-3 6-4 in a one-sided semifinal.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov reached the final by beating Carlos Moya 7-6 7-2, 7-6 7-3 after coming close to losing both sets.Sampras earned a break point with a blistering return in the sixth game and converted it with a raging smash to go 4-2 up. He stayed on top of a helpless Bjorkman until the Swede hit a backhand into the net to hand him the first set.No 4 Bjorkman dropped his serve in the opening game of the second set then resisted bravely, saving two match points before hitting a return long on the third. Moya, a newcomer to the elite tournament and the youngest in the field at 21, broke serve for a 6-5 lead, then went on to waste four set points in the next game.He double-faulted on the fourth set point, then made two forehand errors in a row to let Kafelnikov off the hook.

The Russian then breezed through the tie-break.Meanwhile, Tim Henman produced two victories in different countries yesterday, including a stunning triumph over Kafelnikov that earned him 100,000 and 80 ATP points. Henman was replacing Sergi Bruguera in the tournament.

Henman beat Jamie Delgado in the morning to reach the semifinals of the British Nationals in Telford, then drove to nearby Birmingham where a private jet was waiting to take him to the German city hosting the season-ending event.