Seles shocked

CHICAGO, Nov 8: Playing only her 12th professional match, 16-year-old Serena Williams stunned former world No 1 Monica Seles on Friday to a...

CHICAGO, Nov 8: Playing only her 12th professional match, 16-year-old Serena Williams stunned former world No 1 Monica Seles on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Ameritech Cup tennis tournament.

Williams, younger sister of US Open runner-up Venus Williams, dropped the first set before roaring back for a shocking 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over the second seed.

In another upset, unseeded Nathalie Tauziat of France downed top-seed and defending champion Jana Novotna 7-5, 6-3.

Rafter in semis

STOCKHOLM: Top-seed Patrick Rafter beat Tim Henman 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals for his third consecutive straight-set victory in the Stockholm Open.

The US Open champion struggled yesterday with his serve early on, facing break points in his first three service games against the eighth-seeded Briton.

Greg Rusedski of Britain, whom Rafter beat in the US Open final, advanced to the semifinals without hitting a shot as Magnus Larsson of Sweden withdrew because of illness.

Kafelnikov advances

MOSCOW: Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated his former teammate on the Soviet junior team, Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, in straight sets to move into the semifinals of the $1,125,000 Kremlin Cup tennis tournament.

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Daniel Nestor of Canada, defeated Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.