Kafelnikov, the third-place finisher at the 2009 Chengdu Open, was hardly dejected.

"Greg can still play very well. If we all could get in better shape, I honestly believe we still could play with some of the boys on the Tour. Maybe I'm hallucinating, but just a thought: we hit the ball well, we understand the game, all the tactics...it's in there, it's just a question of being able to perform it on the tennis court."

Rusedski was less interested in the prospect of returning to five-plus hour training days, instead preferring to play Sampras in the finals of Asia's only ATP Champions Tour event.

"We played seven times on the main tour; I only managed to beat him once, but we have always had very close matches, usually 7-5 [or] 7-6 in the third set, so it's always a lot of fun to play Pete. He's a great player. It's been a long time since we played, so really looking forward to it."

Defending Chengdu champion and ATP Champions Tour No. 1 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden defeated Pat Rafter of Australia in a good-spirited 6-3, 6-4 match.

Pushing his 2010 Chengdu Open record to two wins and one loss, Enqvist's victory over Rafter qualified him for the play-off for third place against Frenchman Guy Forget Enqvist and Rafter together regaled fans by opening the second set with a game of cat and mouse.

Rafter placed the ball in each corner to pull the racket strings of the speedy Enqvist, dragging him side-to-side. Enqvist joined the puppetry, placing the ball in each corner but taking off just enough pace to ensure Rafter would get there.

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