Top draw Hewitt falls to Schuettler

“It’s tough to play against someone who was returning everything. I tried to be flat but it didn’t work. Obliviously its tough to dictate terms against a player like him,” said Hewitt after the match.

Though the Australian managed to break the German’s serve in the very first game, he seems to have lost control over his game thereafter. Hewitt was like a cannon spinning out of control as he sprayed shots in all directions – and all too rarely on target. This allowed Schuettler to go for the kill as he wrested the initiative by breaking back in the fourth game and then again in the sixth, to take control of the set.

“I had nothing to lose. So I took my chances and went for my shots. I’m happy that I was really playing well,” said Schuettler. The first set loss seems to have shaken Hewitt. He failed to control his returns on a few occasions and handed the comfort of a break to Schuettler.

But at this stage, Hewitt suddenly found his touch. He broke back in the second and fourth games to open up a 3-1 lead. Both players stuck to the baseline and waited for their opponent to make the mistake. “That’s our style of play,” Hewitt said later.

But few better returns and the world No 143 was back to his best as he broke the Australian in the ninth and the 11th games to cruise to 6-5 lead. By this time, the crowd started backing the German to go for kill. For the first time, Hewitt, the big draw of the event, fell out of favour at the CCI.

Enjoying the vociferous crowd support, Schuettler then held his serve to clinch the issue.

“Schuettler was lucky to have won some good points in the second set. That tilted the game in his favour,” felt the Australian.

The victory moved Schuettler, a world No. 5 three years ago, up for a semi-final clash with eight seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus. Rochus led 4-1 against German wild card Nicolas Kiefer before the latter retired due to a stomach bug.

Semi-final line-up

• Richard Gasquet (1, France) vs Fabrice Santoro (5, France);

• Rainer Schuettler (Germany) vs Olivier Rochus (8, Belgium).