Safin power destroys Hewitt

Safin only faltered on match-point

 Friday's Hamburg Masters results

Marat Safin produced an awesome display of power and poise to overwhelm world number one Lleyton Hewitt in a semi-final of under an hour at the Hamburg Masters.

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It completed the second shock of the day at the Rothenbaum stadium after Roger Federer ended the hopes of second seed Gustavo Kuerten.

Hewitt, known for his feisty counter-punching style, was for once helpless against a barrage of punishing serves and groundstrokes as Safin ran out a 6-3 6-1 winner.

With every shot in Safin's arsenal working perfectly, Hewitt was rushed into errors time and again and the Australian, usually so vocal on court, made hardly a sound other than in anguish.

It was the first time I played him and he worked out what to do better than I did

Gustavo Kuerten

The top seed kept up with the Russian until 3-4 in the first set when Safin stepped up the pace on his returns as Hewitt's serve wilted under pressure.

And Safin was near-perfect in the second set, his only mistakes coming in the final game when on three match points he tried outrageous winners before Hewitt double-faulted on a fourth.

"I felt great all the way through," the Russian said. "I was really enjoying it."

The Russian will next play Spain's Tommy Robredo of Spain who beat Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 6-1.

Kuerten's ambitions of retaining the French Open title were considerably dampened as an inspired Federer beat him 6-0 1-6 6-2.

"It's going be tougher than other years. I wouldn't say I'm one of the favourites," said the 25-year-old of his chances at Roland Garros.

Federer, seeded 11th, raced through the first set in 20 minutes as the player who had won only one clay-court match on the ATP tour this season before coming to Hamburg turned on the style.

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Although a tired-looking Kuerten failed to produce anything like the sort of form he had displayed against Guillermo Canas in the previous round, Federer was unstoppable.

Kuerten's frustration boiled over at times

But it was not to last as Kuerten turned up the heat in the second set and Federer, whose fragile mental state is the only weakness in his game, looked likely to capitulate.

However the Swiss star defied his critics in a tense deciding set.

Despite conceding an early advantage, he roared back to oust the three-times French Open champion with a stunning topspin lob on his second match point.

"It's great for your confidence to get a 6-0 set against him on clay," Federer said.

"I was playing well and am happy with my form. I am just looking forward to my semi-final now."

Kuerten conceded that he had been second best on the day.

"There wasn't much I could do," he said. "It was the first time I played him and he worked out what to do better than I did."

But he remained upbeat, insisting: "This week has been so helpful for my confidence. If I play like I played today I'm going be able to win matches."

Federer, a first round loser in Hamburg on his previous visits in 2000 and 2001, next faces Max Mirnyi for a place in Sunday's final.

Mirnyi beat France's Julien Boutter 7-6 4-6 6-3 in an unseeded clash.

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Friday's quarter-final results (prefix denotes seeding)

6 M Safin (Rus) bt 1 L Hewitt (Aus) 6-3 6-1
M Mirnyi (Blr) bt J Boutter (Fra) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3
11 R Federer (Swi) bt 2 G Kuerten (Bra) 6-0 1-6 6-2
T Robredo (Spa) bt S Koubek (Aut) 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 6-1

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