Hewitt pulls out in Bangkok
Lleyton Hewitt pulled out of his Thailand Open quarter-final against Paradorn Srichaphan in Bangkok late on Friday, handing the home favourite a walkover win.

Hewitt gave Paradorn a free pass into a semi-final against young British star Andy Murray after complaining of a niggling groin injury.

"In my practise today I overstretched the inside left of my groin which had been stiff from training and especially after the match over Gimelstob last night," said Hewitt, whose tournament plans are uncertain as he awaits the birth of his first child.

The Australian struggled in both his opening matches in Bangkok, and had needed to fight off four match points against Justin Gimelstob before advancing to the quarter-finals.

His absence will aid the cause of Murray, who added another chapter to his remarkable year when he beat US Open semi-finalist Robby Ginepri 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the last four.

The 18-year-old Scot, who has risen into the world's top 100 after starting the year ranked 411, defeated the American third seed to clinch the second best result of his career after his second round Wimbledon defeat of 15th-ranked Radek Stepanek.

"Obviously Paradorn is playing in front of his home crowd and he's a big star over here," Murray said. "It's going to be a big match for me and I'm looking forward to it.

"I'm not expected to win, but if I play like I did today I think I've got a very good chance. I would like to get through to the final and play my first ATP final against the best player in the world."

Murray was anticipating a final against top seed and world number one Roger Federer, who is due to play Luxembourg's Gilles Muller for a place in the semi-finals.

Hewitt struggles as Fed flies
From correspondents in Bangkok
September 30, 2005

ROGER Federer polished his game at the expense of an outsider while Lleyton Hewitt was made to struggle into the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open overnight.

Top seed Federer put a bumpy start 24 hours earlier behind him, rushing past German unknown Denis Gremelmayr 6-3 6-2.

"I felt okay, I was in control the entire time," said the world number one, stalking his 11th title of the season.

"I didn't have to push so I didn't go 100 percent all the time," said the defending champion, who holds 10 titles this season and improved his hard court winning streak to 37, the best in the post-1968 Open era.

Qualifier Gremelmayr, aged 24 and ranked a distant 239th, was playing only the third match of his career at the elite ATP level.

Second seed Hewitt lived dangerously against Justin Gimelstob, saving four match points before finally going through after two hours and 15 minutes, 6-4 5-7 7-6 (11-9).

Hewitt finally got a break as Gimelstob double-faulted to end it.

"I think the court surface and conditions really suited his game, and he served well in patches out there and was very flashy," said Hewitt. "When he keeps coming at you like that he's a tough player to play against.

"But in the clutch moments I played pretty well. That was the probably the best I played, when the pressure was actually on. That's a good sign, but I haven't really served well the last couple of days and hopefully it can improve tomorrow."

Teenage British hope Andy Murray lived up to his promise to break into the top 100 this season, knocking out Sweden's fifth seed Robin Soderling 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) for his highest ever ranking.

Murray will also be playing in his first career quarter-final at the ATP level when he takes on third-seeded American Robby Ginepri, a US Open semi-finalist.

"This is a pretty big deal for me, to get there this year," said Murray, 18, who began the year at 411 before making the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at the US Open.

"I'm pretty happy with myself, I've played well the last few months and I think I deserve it."

Home hero Paradorn Srichaphan, the number seven, upstaged Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5 6-4.

The Thai, whose ranking has dropped to 56th with his last title earned more than a 15 months ago, nudged his 2005 record level to 27-27.

Overall, Federer remains untouchable with a 74-3 record in 2005 and aims to retain his Bangkok title.

"I could save energy, but I was careful not to get into any danger," he said after the abbreviated 61-minute effort against Gremelmayr.

He said his first night here was hell as, unable to sleep because of jet-lag, he passed sleepless hours watching Champions League football in his five-star hotel.

"I've had two matches now, I just need to keep getting that little bit better," Federer said.

Second round results
1-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Denis Gremelmayr (Ger) 6-3 6-2
Andy Murray (GB) bt 5-Robin Soderling (Swe) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5)
6-Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) bt Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4
Gilles Muller (Lux) bt 8-Luis Horna (Per) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3
2-Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Justin Gimelstob (US) 6-4 5-7 7-6 (9-7)
7-Paradorn Srichaphan (Tha) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spa) 7-5 6-4
Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Tpe) bt 4-Tommy Haas (Ger) 7-5 6-3.

Agence France-Presse
 

Hewitt repels Czech threat
From correspondents in Bangkok
September 29, 2005

LLEYTON Hewitt, playing his first match since the US Open, has survived an enterprising challenge from Czech Lukas Dlouhy in the Thailand Open.

Hewitt, who won 6-3 3-6 7-5, appeared set for a runaway victory as he swept to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but once Dlouhy settled he offered a real threat.

"I probably played the tighter points a bit better than he did out there," said Hewitt, who admitted he had difficulty adjusting to playing indoors after the US Open

A frustrated Roger Federer battled to beat Brazilian Marcos Daniel 7-6 7-4.

Federer's frustration was understandable as 133rd-ranked Daniel refused to be intimidated by the stature of his opponent and rallied well from the baseline.

At one stage the Swiss world No.1 came within two points of allowing Daniel to serve for the opening set, and he had to wait until his eighth break point before a backhand volley error at 5-5 gave him the first break of the match.

Even then he dropped his own serve, and just one mini-break - on the first point of the tiebreak - decided the set in Federer's favour.

Several break points also went begging in the second set, before Federer finally claimed victory on his third match point.

Agence France-Presse