Hewitt takes revenge to close in on top spot

Lleyton Hewitt took revenge on South African Wayne Ferreira by beating him 6-7 6-3 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Stuttgart Masters Series.

The victory moved the young Australian just two matches away from top spot in the ATP Champions Race.

Third seed Hewitt, who lost to Ferreira after a five-set thriller in last year's final here, recovered from a nervous start for his quarter-final victory.

The U.S. Open champion, now riding a 17-match winning streak dating back to his Grand Slam breakthrough, will knock Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten off the lead in the Race standings if he wins the tournament.

The 20-year-old, more than ever a serious contender in the battle to finish the year at number one, has already done enough to take second place from American Andre Agassi.

Both Kuerten and Agassi have made early exits from the $2.95 million event, the eighth of nine Masters Series tournaments and the first one indoors.

The race for number one should be decided at next month's season-ending Masters Cup in Sydney. Kuerten, Agassi and Hewitt all stand a chance but the Australian is now many observers' favourite.

Hewitt goes on to meet local favourite Tommy Haas, who knocked out Britain's Tim Henman 2-6 6-3 6-4 in the day's last match.

Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov will take on qualifier Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the other semifinal on Saturday.

Kafelnikov advanced with a fairly straightforward 7-5 6-4 victory over Swede Thomas Enqvist while Mirnyi extended his impressive run with a shock 6-4 6-2 demolition of troubled former world number one Pete Sampras.

BRAVE COMEBACK

Henman, the seventh seed, relied on his trademark serve and volley game to take the first set in just 33 minutes but could not resist a brave comeback from the in-form German, who delighted his home fans by firing a service winner on match point after just over two hours.

Haas, the 15th seed, who won his third title of the year in Vienna on Sunday, left Henman in ninth position in the Champions Race and facing a struggle to qualify for the Masters Cup.

The top seven players in the Race standings will go to Sydney with Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic joining them as a Grand Slam winner.

Hewitt was leading 5-2 in the first set when he wasted two set points in his match with Ferreira. The South African, eager to make up for a frustrating season, then broke him to force a tie-break, which he won 7-5.

But the combative Australian then took control, cruising in the last two sets courtesy of his aggressive baseline play.

Kafelnikov, who was a finalist in Stuttgart in 1998 but has never won a Masters Series title, survived two set points before using a late break to claim the first set.

Enqvist, who has not won a tournament this year, briefly gave the impression he could fight his way back when a double fault from his opponent enabled him to level the set at 4-4.

But Kafelnikov broke back immediately and served for the match, sealing victory after 85 minutes with Enqvist hitting a backhand long on the first match point.

Mirnyi, who had knocked out Kuerten and Ivanisevic in the previous rounds, then took care of Sampras.

The powerful 24-year-old had to save six match points on his way to the quarter-finals but had no frights this time, overpowering the American throughout a one-sided contest.