Kuerten eases through to final four

Defending champion Gustavo Kuerten stayed on course for a third French Open title today,

The Brazilian outplayed Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 to earn a semi-final place.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who was fined £750 after twice calling umpires "spastic" in this tournament, trailed 6-4, 6-2 to Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero in their match.

In the women's quarterfinals, Jennifer Capriati beat fellow American Serena Williams 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Justine Henin, the 19-year-old from Belgium beat the 17-year-old Lina Krasnoroutskaya of Russia 6-1, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.

Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland is also through after a 6-1, 6-4 win over Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

Meanwhile, Pete Sampras will be No 2 seed at the Stella Artois championships at Queens Club next week. Russia's Marat Safin is the top seed.

Lindsay Davenport will play in the Britannic Asset Management event at Eastbourne starting on 18 June.