In the semi-finals of the Egyptian International Men's Lawn Tennis Championships in Cairo on Friday (8 March), France's top-seeded player, Francois Jauffret, and Egypt's star player, El Shafei, both qualified for the finals on Sunday (10 March).

Jauffret defeated his Soviet opponent, Kakulia, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, after failing dramatically in the second and third sets and appearing to be close to defeat. However, he rallied in the final two sets and clinched a comfortable victory.

In the other semi-final, El Shafei won a convincing three-set victory over Hungary's top seed, Szuke.

El Shafei's victory was another indication of the growing strength of North African tennis players in international competition.

SYNOPSIS: The semi-finals of the Egyptian International Men's Lawn Tennis Championships in Cairo on Friday. And Hungary's top player, Szuke, is close to a resounding defeat by Egypt's own El Shafei. In a clearly one-sided match, El Shafei consolidated his country's emergence as a major force in international tennis with winning sets of 6-1, 6-2 and 6-1.

Playing before a capacity crowd of five-thousand at the Gezira Sporting Club, El Shafei lost few rallies with his European opponent and had little trouble in handling Szuke's returns.

By the third game, the Egyptian star-player was completely dominant. And -- encouraged by the obviously partisan crowd -- forced Szuke to the rear of the court where the Hungarian was unable to cope with El Shafei's hard drives.

The second semi-final, however, was much closer -- Frenchman, Francois Jauffret, coming dangerously near to defeat by the Soviet player, Kakulia.

Although Jauffret lost some early points he was easily the superior player in the early stages. With some strong support from a large European contingent in the stands, he won most rallies and gave no indication of his impending collapse. But -- after a six-two victory in the first set -- he withered before a strong onslaught by the Soviet player. The second set was a close six-four victory for Kakulia -- bringing the players level at one set each. Then, with Jauffret still surprised, the Russian maintained his winning run with a repeat six-four win. But -- only one set from victory -- he seemed to tire, giving the more-experienced Frenchman time to rally and regain his earlier confidence. The final two games were easily Jauffret's with clear wins of six-two and six-one. His victory put him into the final against the Egyptian winner of the other semi-final, El Shafei. This holding of the championships in Egypt is yet another sign of Egypt's re-emergence in international sports since the October war.