Rafter advances to semis after easy match

NEW YORK (AP) - Patrick Rafter was faster than the wind, and far too quick for Jonas Bjorkman, as he breezed into the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

The third-seeded Rafter had 44 winners and only 14 unforced errors, and lost his serve just once in a 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory yesterday over No. 12 Bjorkman, who played in long sleeves on a chilly afternoon made even colder by a 24-mph wind.

Rafter, the defending champion, will face top-seeded Pete Sampras in the semifinals.

AP PHOTO Third-seeded Patrick Rafter was able to dispose of Jonas Bjorkman in dominant fashion to advance to the semifinals of the U.S. Open. He will play Pete Sampras.

The wind turned service tosses into adventures. On one toss, the ball was blown so far away from Rafter that he didn't even attempt to catch it - instead, letting it bounce and roll toward a ballboy.

But Rafter said the conditions were no worse than those in Mount Isa, the Australian town where he grew up playing tennis.

"I've been brought up in the wind, whether it's winter or summer it's very windy conditions," he said. "I've played in that since I'm 10 years old."

Rafter used his exceptional speed to control the match. He ran down Bjorkman's passing shots and darted to the net for winning volleys.

Also overcoming the wind was women's No. 2 Lindsay Davenport, whose power was too much for No. 13 Amanda Coetzer in a 6-0, 6-4 victory. Davenport will play the winner of Wednesday night's match between Venus Williams and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the semifinals.

Davenport was consistent, if not spectacular, getting 94 percent of her first serves in during the first set. She never lost her serve in the match, despite struggling with the wind.

"It's tough. When you're with the wind, you can't hit the ball too far or it flies long. On the other side, you have to hit the ball hard," Davenport said. "You never know what's going to happen out there in the wind."

There were two short rain delays during the Davenport-Coetzer match.

''The wind and the delays probably helped me a little bit. I was definitely struggling with the way she was hitting the ball,'' Coetzer said. ''Often the wind is a little bit of an equalizer."

Coetzer, who at 5-foot-2 is more than a foot shorter than her 6-2 1/2 opponent, said she was intimidated by the power and depth of Davenport's shots.

"It's tennis. There's no requirements to play, no age requirements, no height requirement, no weight requirement. Tennis is tennis," Davenport said. "I can't help it that I'm a lot taller than her and I hit the ball harder."

09-10-98