Fifth seed Kafelnikov crashes out

Fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, joined the growing list of big-name failures in the men's draw at Wimbledon when he crashed out 7-6 7-5 6-1 to up-and-coming Belgian Xavier Malisse today.

The former French and Australian Open champion never quite got himself in gear, producing double faults on key points in the tie-break and second set to lose the initiative in their third-round encounter.

The Russian was also erratic at the net, producing 27 unforced errors in the match and allowing the pony-tailed 21-year-old to out-hit him from the baseline.

Malisse, who ousted Tim Henman from the U.S. Open and French Open, pounced on every loose shot and also served with precision and power, winning on his first match point when Kafelnikov returned tamely into the net.

Henman and Lleyton Hewitt are now the only remaining seeds left in the tournament out of the top 10.