Henman smells Swede success

Henman will now face Chile's Nicolas Massu

British number one Tim Henman is favourite to win the Australian men's hardcourt championship after top seed Lleyton Hewitt was dumped out of the competition.

Germany's Tommy Haas was the man responsible for beating local lad Hewitt, overcoming the defending champion 6-4 0-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals.

Henman reached the last four with a 7-6 6-7 6-3 win over Sweden's Thomas Johansson and will now face Chile's Nicolas Massu, who beat Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 7-6 6-2.

Haas, the Olympic silver medallist, will meet another Australian, Jason Stoltenberg, who saw off Spain's Alberto Martin 6-3 6-4.

This isn't the biggest tournament but it's definitely a good one to win

  Tim Henman

"I really didn't give myself a realistic chance going into this tournament, " said Hewitt, who has been dogged by health problems in recent months.

"It was a big call coming in here anyway, so I didn't have high expectatons."

Second seed Henman had some difficult moments in his match, breaking early in each set but letting Johansson back into the match to force a third set.

"I think he's a guy who plays well when he's behind," said the world number 10. "He doesn't give up without a fight."

Both players came to Adelaide on a roll, each having won their final tournaments of 2000 at home - Henman at Brighton and Johansson in the last tournament of the year in Stockholm.

He's not identical to Johansson, but I think fairly similar

  Henman on Massu

While Henman admitted the Australian Open was at the back of his mind, he said he would love to pick up the first ATP title of 2001.

"This isn't the biggest tournament but it's definitely a good one to win," he said.

"I'm getting closer but the matches are going to get harder."

Of Massu, Henman said: "I've never played with him, I've practiced with him on one or two occasions and I've seen him play a fair bit.

"He's not identical to Johansson, but I think fairly similar.

"He can serve pretty big and he's going to base his game around his forehand and his ground strokes."