MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov finally had to beat a top 15 player at the Australian Open. It was quick and easy.

To keep his title, he has to beat Andre Agassi, who was strong enough to withstand 37 aces by Pete Sampras.

	Yevgeny Kafelnikov quietly plowed his way into the final while much of the Australian Open attention focused on No. 1 seed Andre Agassi.

Kafelnikov wielded a lethal forehand Friday in advancing to Sunday's final with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 12 Magnus Norman in 90 minutes.

Norman, in his first Grand Slam semifinal, looked nothing like the solid slugger who ousted No. 4 Nicolas Kiefer in the quarterfinals. He committed 41 unforced errors to 18 by Kafelnikov. But, he said, after a match like Agassi's dramatic five-set comeback against Sampras in their semifinal, "I have a big responsibility to make sure I don't disappoint the crowd."

"The pressure is enormous. You don't get many chances to play in a Grand Slam final."

Kafelnikov has a 4-5 record against Agassi, who has won their last three meetings. Agassi also has reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals, winning the French and U.S. Opens last year and losing in the Wimbledon final to Sampras.

Still, Kafelnikov said, he prefers to meet Agassi because when Sampras' serve is working, his opponent has no chance.

Norman said that "if Yevgeny can play like he did today, I think he has got a good shot."

Kafelnikov broke at love in Norman's first service game and generally appeared unruffled by the Swede's hard hitting. He won 10 of the first 11 games and didn't yield a break point until the final set's fourth game.

Norman cashed that in with a backhand down the line, tying the score at 2-2. But Kafelnikov broke him for the sixth time for 4-3 and then held serve twice more.

Norman threw down his racket in disgust several times. The first outburst came when Kafelnikov broke him in the second set's first game with a forehand that zipped through the tiny opening Norman left him down the line.

	No. 1 vs. No. 2
	Since 1985 in the majors, the No. 1 seed and No. 2 seeds in both the men's and women's draws have survived to the finals just four other times:
	Tournament	Men	Women
	1996 U. S. Open	No. 1 Sampras def. No. 2 Chang	No. 1 Graf def. No. 2 Seles
	1995 U. S. Open	No. 2 Sampras def. No. 1 Agassi	No. 1 Graf def. No. 2 Seles
	1993 Australian	No. 1 Courier def. No. 2 Edberg	No. 1 Seles def. No. 2 Graf
	1989 U. S. Open	No. 2 Becker def. No. 1 Lendl	No. 1 Graf def. No. 2 Navratilova

Describing himself as "an emotional guy," Norman said, "I would do anything to get one more chance really to show that I can play better than I did today."

Kafelnikov started in a good position, with Agassi and Sampras in the other half of the draw, and saw the three other seeded players in his quarter fall by the third round.

On his way to the final, he beat Jens Knippschild, Daniel Vacek, Stefan Koubek, qualifier Chistophe Rochus, Younes El Aynaoui and Norman, and lost only his very first set, in a tiebreaker.

"I wouldn't mind winning one more match here in this tournament," Kafelnikov said.

"I've expected a lot tougher matches than probably I've had. Maybe I have to give credit to myself by playing very solid and consistent."

Against Norman, "I knew if I would stay in the point long enough, he might have a breakdown, and that's basically what happened."

But when Norman broke him early in the third set, "I was really nervous. I thought, 'Oh God, maybe the match has just begun.' "

Meanwhile, Sampras said a torn hip muscle suffered in his loss to Agassi would keep him out for three or four weeks. He will not play next week in the United States' Davis Cup match against Zimbabwe.

Sampras, who had stayed out of Davis Cup since 1997 except for a doubles match last summer against Australia, declined to say how new U.S. captain John McEnroe reacted to news of the injury.

"He was at dinner," Sampras said. "It probably wasn't the best news he's had."