As reported by: Agence France-Presse
Former men's tennis world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov has told The Independent that it is highly unlikely he will ever play professional tennis again.

The 30-year-old two-time Grand Slam winner admitted his preference was to play poker nowadays as he couldn't bear to face his fellow Russians as a loser.

"I have retired but I have not officially announced it," he told the newspaper.

"Some people still think I am just taking a break, but I believe that my time in tennis has gone by.

"Even if I came back, I would have no chance to play at the same level I was," said Kafelnikov, who won the 1996 French Open and the 1999 Australian Open where at the latter he is reputed to have spent most of his time playing roulette.

However it was the thought of losing face to his compatriots that has really made his mind up.

"The most important things was not to disappoint my fans," said Moscow-based Kafelnikov, who is a divorced father of one, a six year-old daughter called Alesja.

"It is very hard to earn a good image in Russia. Once you do you're a hero.

"But if you then do something wrong, you're treated like, like, I can't even think of a word for it.

"So when people on the street in Moscow ask why I stopped playing, I say 'because I don't want to see you people crying when I lose'. They understand that."

Kafelnikov, who has several businesses in Russia with the main one being a real estate company, said that he had switched his competitive attention to poker because it wasn't just down to skill.

"I find it very exciting," said Kafelnikov, who has taken on the poker Rookie of the Year from 2002 Kirill Gerasimov to coach him.

"Because you win not with the cards but with your skills. With body language you can win a game but also you can lose a game," added Kafelnikov, who has won a professional poker tournament and recently competed in an event in England in which the winner collected 500,000 dollars.

Kafelnikov, who also won the 1996 Olympic title, said that while he thought world number one Roger Federer was an outstanding player he still felt he wasn't better than Pete Sampras, who dominated the circuit when Kafelnikov was at his peak.

"Federer is good on all surfaces, very universal. Maybe his weakness is clay, but he can be successful there too," said the Russian, whose website bears the title of 'Yevgeny Online - The Temple of the God of Tennis'.

"The best ever? For me, it is hard to think that anyone could be better than Sampras, not even Federer," added Kafelnikov.

Kafelnikov, the son of a volleyball coach, is as dismissive of the more controversial aspects of his life as he was of a lot of opponents both on and off the court during his career, such as his friendship with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who was arrested over his links to the figure skating scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

"I am still friendly with him.

"There's nothing I can do about it. I have known this guy for many many years."