Furious Kafelnikov Withdraws From U.S. Open Tournament

He could have been a contender. But Saturday fourth-ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov, infuriated by his demotion to the No. 7 slot in this year’s subjective and controversial U.S. Open seeding process, hopped the first plane back to Russia as a gesture of protest.

The 22-year-old Russian said the rib injury that U.S. Open officials used as a reason for his deflated seeding would not have been serious enough to prevent him from playing at the Open.

Kafelnikov said U.S. Open officials, who deviated this year from the men’s rankings in order to present what they believed was the strongest field of 16 on hard courts, should take his exit as a signal that players will not support an event that spurns the ATP Tour rankings.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain rebounded for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic in the semifinals of the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. Sanchez Vicario will face Kimiko Date, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Conchita Martinez in today’s final.

Unseeded Australian Todd Woodbridge defeated Marcelo Rios 6-0, 6-3 to reach the final of the $2.8 million du Maurier Open in Toronto.

Woodbridge, ranked 43rd in the world, advanced to meet No. 3 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa in the finals. Ferreira beat Todd Martin 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine and unseeded Martin Damm of Czech Republic won semifinal matches to advance to the finals of the Hamlet Cup tennis tournament in Commack, N.Y.