Kafelnikov crashes out

Kafelnikov had no reply to Novak's baseline game

Click here for Friday's results

Second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov crashed out of the Dubai Open in spectacular fashion.

The Russian - ranked number four in the world - was ousted by the Czech Republic's Jiri Novak 6-1 6-1.

Novak said: "It was our fifth meeting and I'd never beaten him, so I was just trying to play my best tennis.

"But I don't think he was mentally in good shape because it can't happen that I would beat him 6-1 6-1."

Normally I do that kind of thing to people. Today was the opposite and now I know what it feels like

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Kafelnikov added: "I tried hard, but every question I gave him he had an answer.

"Normally I do that kind of thing to people. Today was the opposite and now I know what it feels like."

The 51-minute demolition means Novak will now play Fabrice Santoro in the semi-final.

Frenchman Santoro enjoyed a straight sets victory over Ivan Ljubicic, coming through a difficult second set tie-break to prevail 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Tim Henman plays third seed Thomas Johansson, while German Rainer Schuettler plays Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui for the last two semi-final places.

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Friday's results from Dubai:

Quarter finals
Fabrice Santoro (Fra) beat Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 6-4 7-6 (7-5)
Jiri Novak (Cze 8) beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus 2) 6-1 6-1

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