Hewitt wastes little time

Hewitt in dominant form in Japan

US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt reached the final of the Japan Open with a 6-4 6-0 victory over unseeded James Blake.

The Australian will meet fifth seed Michel Kratochvil after the Swiss player beat Slovakian Karol Kucera 6-0 6-3.

Hewitt, who won in just 64 minutes, was in confident mood: "As soon as I got up a set and a break, I really put my foot down.

"I've just come off the biggest month of my life tennis-wise and it's very tough for my opponents to beat me at the moment."

Local hope

Kratochvil needed just 62 minutes to end the run of the unseeded Kucera and reach his second ATP tour final of the year.

"Obviously my goal here is to win my first career tournament," said the world number 57.

In the women's semi-finals, second seed Tamarine Tanasugarn beat number eight Joannette Kruger of South Africa 6-3 7-5.

The Thai will now play top seed Monica Seles, who defeated the local hope Ai Sugiyama 7-5 6-4 on Friday.