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Paes in Hall of Fame semis

Leander Paes of India stormed into the semifinal of the Newport (Rhode Island) Hall of Fame tennis tournament, outclassing Rainier Schuttler of Germany 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

This is the third straight year that Paes has made it to the semifinal of the grasscourt event. On both previous occasions, he lost to the eventual champion.

This time round, he will take on Laurence Tieleman of Italy, a wild card who went on to down Mark Woodforde in an earlier round before despatching Mark Knowles in straight sets in the quarter final.

Paes is still searching for his first career singles title. His opponent, Tieleman, has 15 career wins, all of them on grass.

Meanwhile, top seed Jason Stoltenberg of Australia, looking to reach his fourth ATP Tour final of the year, stormed into the semis of the $275,000 championships routing seventh seed John van Lottum of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-2.

Stoltenberg, still looking for a title win this year, will now meet South African Neville Godwin, who advanced to his own first ATP tour semifinal by edging former collegiate star Justin Gimelstob of the United States, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Interestingly, no top seed has ever won this title.

On the day, the 28 year old Stoltenberg played near flawless tennis to oust Van Lottum, the only other seed left in the tournament at that stage.

"I felt like I didn't do a thing wrong all day,'' Stoltenberg said.

"He played unbelievable," said his 22-year-old Dutch opponent. "I was totally outclassed."

Appearing unfazed by the Newport jinx on number one seeds, Stoltenberg said, "All things have to come to an end, even jinxes."

Although he says he is not superstitious, Stoltenberg did joke that he may try to repeat his regimen so that he can play as well in the semifinal round. "I'll eat the same stuff, sleep the same way, get out of bed the same way and put my left shoe on first,'' he said, noting that the only habit he really does have is putting his left shoe on first.

The grasscourt tournament is being held just one month after a fire damaged the north wing of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Later today, legendary American star Jimmy Connors and the late Herman David, former All-England Club chairman, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.