Krajicek Wins Eurocard Open Title

Richard Krajicek served with power and accuracy Sunday to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and capture the Eurocard Open for the second time.

Krajicek moved closer to clinching one of the last two spots still available for the eight-man, season-ending world championship in Hanover. He is now in the eighth position, with three weeks of tennis left before the championship.

Krajicek, who ousted fifth-ranked Andre Agassi and No. 1 Pete Sampras en route to the final, was devastating against Kafelnikov.

"My serve was very important," Krajicek said. "I returned well also. You can't win only with serve."

The 26-year-old Dutchman never faced a break point on his serve and did not give up a single point in his first four service games. He took the first set with an ace on his second set point and had 21 aces in the match.

In the second set, Kafelnikov saved two set points but then hit a forehand long to fall into a two-set deficit.

The Russian, No. 10 in the world, dropped his serve again to leave Krajicek a 2-0 lead and he breezed through the final set, hitting a backhand volley to break Kafelnikov's serve for the match.

Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion, entered the tournament ranked 11th. But his second title of the year most likely will push him into the top 10 in Monday's rankings.

Kafelnikov was playing in his fifth final this year. He has won two of them.

Krajicek last title was in February this year in St. Petersburg, Russia.

He won in Stuttgart in 1995 and played in his second consecutive final in the $2.45 million tournament. The victory earned Krajicek $376,000 while Kafelnikov picked up $198,000.

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