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Rejuvenated Kulti advances to quarters

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Posted: Thursday July 08, 1999 03:23 PM

Kulti prefers fast surfaces and has only won two ATP Tour matches on clay since 1996. Stu Forster/Allsport

BASTAD, Sweden (AP) -- Nicklas Kulti continued his surprising run in the Swedish Open on Thursday, defeating his close friend Thomas Johansson 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.

With the third-seeded Johansson eliminated, only two seeded players remain in Scandinavia's oldest clay court championship.

A longtime member of Sweden's powerful Davis Cup team as a doubles player, Kulti prefers fast surfaces and has only won two ATP Tour matches on clay since May 1996.

"I haven't played on clay in such a long time that I almost forgot how to do it," Kulti said. "But playing so well in Halle helped my confidence."

Last month, Kulti reached the final of the German grass court tournament as a "lucky loser". A week later, he reached the quarters in another grass court tourney in Rosmalen, Netherlands. That moved him to 124th on the ATP list and much closer to a direct entry into the bigger tournaments.

"It's been frustrating," said Kulti, a former world No.1 as a junior and still one of the world's best doubles players. "Sometimes I couldn't even play in the qualifying events."

Next up for Kulti, who received a wild card by the organizers, is German Puentes, who overcame Julian Alonso 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Spanish second-round match.

Galo Blanco, another Spaniard, beat Jeff Tarango of the United States 6-2, 7-5.

 

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