• ATP Tour

Hewitt ousted by Chela in Houston

ESPN staff
April 10, 2010
Lleyton Hewitt was the defending champion in Houston © Getty Images
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Lleyton Hewitt failed to defend his US Men's Clay Court Championship title after the former world No. 1 was beaten in the quarter-finals by Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4 6-3 in Houston.

In his first tournament back after hip surgery following the Australian Open in January, Hewitt looked to be on course for a humilating defeat, but rallied after going down 5-0 in the second set, breaking Chela twice to claw his way back to 5-3, but Chela regained his composure to seal the victory.

Chela will meet Argentina's Horacio Zeballos in the last four, after Zeballos knocked out top seed Fernando Gonzalez 6-4 6-4.

Sam Querrey booked his place in the semi-finals with a 6-3 3-6 6-4 victory over Nicolas Massu.

The American third seed fired ten aces as progressed to the semi-finals stage for the third time this season, his first ever semi-final on clay. Querrey will now meet fellow American Wayne Odesnik after last year's finalist beat Belgium's Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-1.

Meanwhile, in the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco, top seed Stanislas Wawrinka stormed into the semi-finals, after a comfortable victory over Moroccan wildcard Reda El Amrani 6-3 6-1.

Third seed Victor Hanescu had a tougher time of it, but he too moved into the last-four with a 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 victory Richard Gasquet. Hanescu will now meet Florent Serra after the Frenchman saw off No.2 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Italy's Potito Starace completed the semi-final line-up after he eased to a 6-1 6-0 victory over fourth seed Lucasz Kubot.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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