Tennis: Nadal ousts Hewitt, Hingis survives

PARIS - Lleyton Hewitt fought valiantly at the French Open before going the way of Rafael Nadal's 56 previous claycourt opponents overnight.

The 20-year-old Spaniard had needed almost five hours to beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in four sets in the third round but he dispatched the Australian former world number one with much less trouble 6-2 5-7 6-4 6-2 in three-and-a-quarter hours.

"Maybe today I played my best match so far. I was feeling the ball the best I have in the tournament," defending champion Nadal said.

In the last eight he will play 19-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic who overcame an exhausted Gael Monfils of France 7-6 7-6 6-3.

They were joined in the last eight by Croatian fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic and Frenchman Julien Benneteau while in the women's singles Martina Hingis progressed to a quarter-final against Kim Clijsters.

Hewitt had won all three of his previous meetings with Nadal on hardcourt but clay is the Mallorcan's domain and the Australian simply could not match his opponent's power.

Nadal was whistled by the centre court crowd when he stopped mid-game against Mathieu after a piece of banana lodged in his throat.

On Monday he earned their appreciation when he took time out in the fourth set to go to the aid of a ballboy suffering from a nosebleed.

Hewitt could have done with some help by then, his only real glimpse of an upset having long been eclipsed when he failed to take advantage of a second-set lapse by Nadal. The Spaniard threw away a 4-3 lead with a break and lost the set with a shocking service game at 5-6.

A fizzing drop shot that spun almost at a right angle secured Nadal the decisive break in the third set.

"Maybe this shot won me the match," Nadal said.

Hewitt, who has never been beyond the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and who was playing despite an ankle injury, visibly wilted and later said: "My serve did go off and that made it a lot harder to put pressure on him.

"His movement on clay is exceptional and he's so physically strong out there as well." Hingis ground her way through to a repeat of her Australian Open quarter-final against Clijsters, which the Belgian won, after a three-set tussle with stubborn Israeli opponent Shahar Peer.

The match was halted at one-set all on Sunday due to poor light and on the resumption Hingis had to fight hard to win the decider to complete a 6-3 2-6 6-3 win.

The Swiss, back at Roland Garros after a three-year break from tennis, dropped her first set of the tournament but was undeterred.

"I think now I can kind of survive a lot of things," said the 25-year-old Hingis. "It doesn't matter what's coming up next. I just have to play my tennis and prepare the best possible."

Ljubicic marched into the last eight for the first time at the claycourt grand slam when he saw off Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.

It equalled his best grand slam showing and he will be confident of progressing further against unseeded Frenchman Benneteau in the last eight.

The fourth seed, who also made the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, had too much big-match experience for the 28-year-old Ramirez Hidalgo.

The Spaniard had never won a grand slam match before the tournament.

Ljubicic's win means Croatia have two players in the last eight for the first time at Roland Garros after Mario Ancic also won his fourth-round match on Sunday to set up a quarter-final with world number one Roger Federer.

Benneteau is also enjoying his best run at a grand slam and he went through after Spain's Alberto Martin withdrew with a back injury when the Frenchman was leading 5-1 in the opening set.

"I'm lucky, no doubt about it," said Benneteau, who himself has been suffering from thigh pains.

- REUTERS