Sportmaster International

Hewitt was left to rue letting his first-set lead slip The German world number 143 outslugged the Aussie second seed and former world number one in one hour 36 minutes.Schuettler faces Belgian eighth seed Olivier Rochus on Saturday, while top seed Richard Gasquet takes on fellow Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, seeded five.”I felt a bit flat after playing two matches yesterday,” admitted Hewitt after his defeat at the rain-hit event.The 26-year-old said he was also feeling the effects

of a virus which forced him to pull out of last Sunday’s Davis Cup singles against Serbia.But Hewitt admitted: “I served poorly and that made it hard for me. I was up 5-2and 15-40 and he began going for his shots and everything came off.”Schuettler, a former world number five, had won just four matches this season before this quarter-final.”I took my chances, it worked, and I fired away,” the German said.Gasquet brushed aside Austria’s number six seed Stefan Koubek 6-2 6-4, while Santoro beat fourth-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4.Rochus reached the last four after German wildcard Nicolas Kiefer retired with a stomach ailment when trailing 4-1.