Hewitt crashes to unseeded German
Hewitt crashes to unseeded German 
From correspondents in Mumbai, India
Former Australian Captain September 29, 2007
LLEYTON Hewitt has crashed to a shock defeat in the Mumbai Open quarter-finals, losing 6-3 7-5 to Rainer Schuettler.
Hewitt, the No.2 seed who won two matches yesterday, had a chance to stay in contention after losing the opening set when he led 5-2 in the second, but he failed to capitalise on the advantage.
Schuettler saved two set points in the eighth game of the second set and then reeled off three games in a row before wrapping up the match.
“It was tough coming back from 5-2 down,” Schuettler said.
“I just kept thinking of each shot and slowly capitalised on his errors. I was a little bit surprised myself when I won. I was just trying to take my chances and it worked.
“When you are playing in the quarters, you’d like to win. When you know you are playing a former No.1, you just think everything falls in place - and that was what happened to me.”
Hewitt was also initially a doubtful starter after pulling out of a crucial Davis Cup tie against Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday with a viral infection.
“It wasn’t easy for me to come back from a fever last week,” Hewitt said.
“I played two matches yesterday. It took a toll on me, I guess.
“I was flat today in the game. Rainer played really well. Despite me being up in the second set, he just kept going. I served poorly and he returned my serves very well.”
There were no such problems for No.1 seed Richard Gasquet from France, who advanced to semi-finals with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over No.6 seed Stefan Koubek from Austria.
The Frenchman, 21, fired eight aces in the 66-minute encounter and was rarely tested by his opponent.
He next plays No.5-seeded compatriot Fabrice Santoro, one his childhood heroes, who defeated No.4 seed Jarkko Nieminen from Finland 6-3 6-4.
“Jarkko is a great player,” Santoro said.
“He is also very consistent. I think the key was that I consistently put my first serve in.
“The conditions were tough with the humidity level making it difficult to recover between points.”
No.8 seed Olivier Rochus from belgium meanwhile reached his first ATP Tour semi-final of the season when German wildcard Nicolas Kiefer retired with an upset stomach while trailing 4-1 in the opening set.
“It was good to have a short match, especially after the long match I had yesterday,” Rochus said.
“The five games we played were very tough and the score could have been anything.”
Agence France-Presse