Kuerten stuns Norman

Gustavo Kuerten: Too good for Magnus Norman

Brazilian fifth seed Gustavo Kuerten stunned Magnus Norman in the Hamburg Masters Series with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over the Swedish ace to book himself a place in the last four.

Roared on by his travelling band of supporters, Kuerten hammered his third-seeded opponent to set up a match with Romanian qualifier Andrei Pavel, who beat Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.

Kuerten's win enabled him to avenge last week's final defeat by Norman in the Rome Masters Series.

And the Brazilian ace admitted that this particular win meant a lot to him.

He said: "This result gives me particular satisfaction."

Kuerten also added that he would not get carried away by the victory even though he looks to be the form player here.

Prepared

He said: "It was a good opportunity to beat Magnus today. I was very well prepared for this match. I was pretty strong on court and I think I see a chance to go through to the final."

Norman was visibly stunned by Kuerten's performance but admitted that he created his own downfall.

"It was 50 percent he was too good, 50 percent I was too bad. I'm glad it happened today and not at the French Open," he said.

"I was missing a lot of first serves. Even through I had breaks in both sets my serve was letting me down and I couldn't take advantage.

"Guga gave me no chance - he was all over me."

Three sets

Russian 12th seed Marat Safin also reached the last four when he defeated French fourth seed Cedric Pioline in three sets.

Safin, who won 7-6 , 4-6, 6-3, will now play Chilean defending champion Marcelo Rios, who knocked out Spaniard Francisco Clavet 6-4, 6-3 in the final match on centre court.

Rios said after his match that he was now "feeling much better" although he confessed that he was't playing brilliant tennis.

"I'm not disappointed as he played very well. He was very consistent every time he was in danger and he played some very good shots," Pioline said.

Blood

Safin drew first blood against Pioline by taking the first set tiebreak but the Frenchman levelled the tie by pocketing his only break point in the opening game of the second set.

Pioline, who had beaten the Russian dangerman in both of their previous two meetings, including a French Open five-setter two years ago, had a poor record here until this year, having not gone past the second round in four visits.

And his jinx returned to haunt him as he lost his momentum in the third, allowing Safin to get 3-0 ahead and then bludgeoning a forehand beyond the line on match point.