Greg Rusedski suffered a dismal 6-3 6-2 defeat in his Eurocard Open quarter-final clash with Jonas Bjorkman in Stuttgart last night. The British number two suffered a severe dip in form and failed to produce his match-winning serve when it mattered.

Pete Sampras eased through to the semi-finals and looks set to underline his position as the world's number one. The American, who would be the first man to complete six successive seasons at the top, beat world number 50 Jan-Michael Gambill after the 21year-old pulled out injured while trailing 4-1 in the first set.

World number two Marcelo Rios failed to take to the court against 10th seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, after hurting a hip muscle while playing football with a tennis ball.

Richard Krajicek ousted Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5).