Grosjean wins at Paris to make the Masters

Sebastien Grosjean became only the second Frenchman to win the Paris Masters Series indoor tournament when he beat Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in four sets on Sunday to qualify for the Masters Cup.

Grosjean beat the fourth-seeded Kafelnikov 7-6 6-1 6-7 6-4 in two hours and 44 minutes to win the second tournament of his career.

"It's the best win in my career. To win a Masters Series in Paris is truly exceptional," the 23-year-old said.

Before his impressive victory in the $2.95 million event at Bercy, the Marseille-born Grosjean had only won in Nottingham last year.

He is the second Frenchman to win the indoor Parisian tournament after Guy Forget, and will be hoping to follow in his predecessor's footsteps again later this month.

Forget, who will be France's captain in this year's Davis Cup final against Australia in Melbourne, won the event in 1991 then went on to win the Davis Cup against the United States.

"I was told he won the Davis Cup one month after Bercy and I hope to do the same," Grosjean added.

Before trying to emulate his elder, Grosjean will attempt to capitalise on his current form at the Masters Cup in Sydney.

GREAT FIGHT

Grosjean had to win the Paris tournament to make it to the November 12 season-ending showdown, an event he had made his main goal this season.

And he did it in style, outpacing the former French Open and Australian Open champion after winning the first set tiebreak 7-3.

The match had been reasonably balanced in the first set, but the loss of it seemed to boost Grosjean and knock the fight out of Kafelnikov and the Frenchman raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set before winning it 6-1.

Scoring winners almost at will, albeit helped by a little bit of luck on key points, Grosjean again broke Kafelnikov to lead 4-3 in the third.

"In the second set, I was on a high after winning the first. But then he played better and it was a great fight," Grosjean said.

The Russian fought bravely to try and overcome his Masters Series jinx -- he was playing in his fifth final of one of the ATP nine biggest tournaments and had lost the four previous ones.

Kafelnikov, who lost in the final at Bercy in 1996 to Thomas Enqvist, broke back, levelled at 5-5 and forced Grosjean to a second tiebreak.

This time the Russian had the upper hand, winning it 7-5.

In the fourth set, Grosjean had two match points on Kafelnikov's serve which the Russian saved, but he bowed on the third by smashing the ball into the net after two hours and 44 minutes of play.