Clement beats Kafelnikov

Arnaud Clement of France beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open tennis championship.

The 15th seeded, who will now meet compatriot and doubles partner Sebastien Grosjean, secured a place in his first Grand Slam semifinal with a courageous display to win in three hours and eleven minutes.

The Frenchman sealed the match when Kafelnikov put an overhead smash into the net, one of a flood of errors from the racket of the 1999 Australian Open champion and last year's runner-up.

The all-French semifinal guarantees France their first finalist in Australia since Jean Borotra won in 1928.

In the other semi-final home favourite Patrick Rafter will play American Andre Agassi.