Greg Rusedski's worst fears came true yesterday as Yevgeny Kafelnikov took the final place in the end-of-season ATP World Championships in Hanover.
Kafelnikov beat Croatian rival Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (75), to take the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and in the process claimed the eighth and final Hanover berth.
Rusedski's semi-final defeat at the hands of Thomas Johansson in the Stockholm Open on Saturday left the British number two's hopes of reaching Hanover for the second year on the trot hanging by a thread.
And Kafelnikov cut the cord, just as Rusedski had feared.
The Russian's victory means that Tim Henman, who also suffered a semi-final defeat in Stockholm, will be Britain's sole representative in Germany.