Kuerten, Philippoussis upset in Japan Open quarterfinals; Frazier reaches final
By GARY SCHAEFER
.c The Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) - Top seed Gustavo Kuerten and third seed Mark Philippoussis were upset Friday in the quarterfinals at the Japan Open tennis tournament, while American Amy Frazier reached the women's final again by fending off South Africa's Joannette Kruger.

Kuerten, the 24-year-old Brazilian who won this year's French Open, retired while trailing Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty 7-6 (6), 2-6, 0-3.

Kuerten explained that a cold drained his energy and left him dizzy.

``I didn't have enough power to keep competing,'' Kuerten said.

The seventh-seeded Hrbaty, ranked 33rd in the world, broke Kuerten in the first game of the decisive third set with an angled backhand that passed right in front of the helpless Brazilian.

Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands upended Philippoussis 6-3, 6-2. The Australian won four of his previous five meetings with Schalken - including a five-setter earlier this year at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old Philippoussis, ranked 14th in the world, was broken in the seventh game of the first set on a double fault and never recovered his composure.

With the second set tied 2-2, Philippoussis missed an easy volley that would have broken Schalken, and the Australian's increasingly desperate attempts to attack the net were repeatedly punished by the 51st-ranked Schalken.

``A point like that can turn the match around,'' said Philippoussis, who lost to Germany's Nicolas Kiefer at last week's Salem Open in Hong Kong. ``I get more upset at myself, he gets more confident.''

In the semifinals, Schalken will face eighth seed Hicham Arazi of Morocco, who knocked out unseeded Wayne Black of Zimbabwe, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2.

In women's action, the second-seeded Frazier got off to a shaky start against Kruger before winning 7-5, 6-2.

The normally sharpshooting American, ranked 20th in the world, was unable to find the range with her backhand for most of the first set, regularly hitting shots long and failing to hold her serve three times.

But with the 61st-ranked South African ahead 5-4 and serving for the first set, Frazier won the next two games with eight straight points. She showed some nifty net play to a supportive crowd that saw her crowned champion here in 1999.

Frazier was never seriously threatened afterward, though she had to save a triple break point while leading 4-2 in the second set.

She will meet either top seed Julie Halard-Decugis of France or fifth seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, the two winners in Friday's women's quarterfinal matches.

Halard-Decugis needed three sets to shake off Swiss qualifier Miroslava Vavrinec, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. Tanasugarn downed American qualifier Tara Snyder 6-4, 6-1.

Tennis-Kuerten, Philippoussis exit Japan Open
By Jon Herskovitz

TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten was forced to retire in the Japan Open quarter-finals on Friday after feeling dizzy due to the flu, conceding to Slovakian number seven seed Dominik Hrbaty 6-7 6-2 3-0.

Australian Mark Philippoussis also exited the tournament as Dutchman Sjeng Schalken swept past him 6-3 6-2.

Kuerten, the top seed, departed at the quarter-finals stage for the third straight tournament after losing in Hong Kong last week and at the Sydney Olympics in the same round.

The Brazilian dropped a marathon third game in the second set that saw eight deuces and resulted in Hrbaty breaking the serve.

The Slovak then ran off 10 straight points thanks to some powerful groundstrokes as the match turned into a one-sided affair. Kuerten never won another game.

``I did not have too much power and energy to run all the time,'' said Kuerten. ``I couldn't go for the shots any more.''

Dutch number 12 seed Schalken relied on near-perfect baseline play as he secured some revenge against number three seed Philippoussis.

The last time the two met was in the third round of Wimbledon where Philippoussis won a five-set match that lasted five hours and five minutes - the second-longest singles game in the tournament's Open Era.

UNFORCED ERRORS

Schalken took the first set after breaking Philippoussis in the seventh game when the big-serving Australian committed a pair of unforced errors and a double fault.

In the second set, Philippoussis tried to turn up the pressure on Schalken's baseline play, switching to a serve and volley and chip and charge.

But the Dutchman unleashed a bevy of precision passing shots to take control and advance to the semifinals.

``I played the same tennis today as I did at Wimbledon except it fell my way today,'' Schalken said.

Philippoussis failed to convert the two break points he forced, which included sending an easy volley into the net in the fifth game of the second set with the score at 2-2.

He said: ``I had the opportunity and I just dumped it straight into the net and a point like that can turn the match around. I can start getting confident.

``After that, it was like a big avalanche that kept rolling the wrong way.''

Schalken will play the winner of the quarter-final between number eight seed Hicham Arazi of Morocco and Wayne Black of Zimbabwe.

On the women's side, defending champion Amy Frazier of the United States advanced to the final after beating South African Joannette Kruger 7-5 6-2.