Hewitt Takes His Time in Victory Over Safin

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt combined a little patience with a little more patience to defeat sixth-seeded Marat Safin, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in a rousing men’s quarterfinal at the Nasdaq-100 Open on Thursday.

The match took 2 hours 44 minutes and was full of long baseline rallies, rocket serves, spectacular shots and, in a surprise to those who have watched the fiery Safin, championship-quality composure.

Hewitt, the 21-year-old Australian, will play 12th-seeded Roger Federer in one of today’s semifinals. Ninth-seeded Andre Agassi plays Marcelo Rios in the other.

Federer, who hasn’t had his serve broken in the tournament, dispatched Andrei Pavel, 6-1, 6-1, on Thursday.

But that match was nothing compared to the drama and intrigue of the one involving Hewitt and Safin, who have won the last two U.S. Open titles.

Hewitt, the world’s top-ranked player and the 2001 U.S. Open winner, entered the quarterfinal with a 14-match win streak and tournament titles at San Jose and Indian Wells.

Safin packs booming serves, a bit of a temper, and has the 2000 U.S. Open title on his resume.

However, after winning the first set Thursday, Safin couldn’t keep his serve going and ran into problems.

“The serve made the difference,” Safin said of Hewitt, regarded as one of the tour’s best returners. “Without the serve you can’t beat this guy.”

After finding his game in the second set, Hewitt was tough to derail en route to his 22nd consecutive victory on U.S. soil.

Hewitt, who hasn’t lost since the first round of the Australian Open (when he had chickenpox), had to be patient and not force things.

Safin made a beautiful backhand diving shot to extend the match--which featured 10 breaks in 21 opportunities--and force the tiebreaker.

“There wasn’t much I could do about it,” said Hewitt, who won when Safin hit a couple of errant backhands down the line.

Federer used blistering serves and punishing ground strokes to keep Pavel from mounting a threat.

“I felt good,” Federer said. “Hit the ball very focused. I mean, I really couldn’t ask for more.”

Federer, 21, is hoping to use this tournament as a springboard toward establishing himself as one of the world’s top players.

“I really would like to reach the top 10 as soon as possible,” said Federer, who finished last year ranked 13th and upset Pete Sampras at Wimbledon.

“That’s something very special for any player.... I’d like to make the next step.”