Rusedski humbles Hewitt

Hewitt could not cope with Rusedski's booming serve

Greg Rusedski wrecked Lleyton Hewitt's preparations for the defence of his US Open title by dumping him out of the RCA Championship in Indianapolis.

Rusedski's powerful serve proved too much for the world number one as the 14th seeded Briton won the third-round match 7-6 6-4.

"He served deep, but then again it was some of the worst returning I've made," said Hewitt, who will not play again before the US Open begins on 26 August.

Lleyton never beats himself so when you beat him that gives you a lot of confidence

Greg Rusedski

"I just could not find the middle of the racket. He served too well, though.

"I cannot remember him having a double-fault. He was serving big first and second serves.

"Obviously there are areas of my game I feel I can just touch up on and sharpen. But I don't feel too bad going into the Open."

Tennis round-up in pictures

The first set was so closely contested that neither player earned a break point, with Rusedski winning the tie-break 7-3.

In the second set, Hewitt led 40-0 on Rusedski's serve in the second game but failed to take his chance.

The Australian paid the price at 4-4 when Rusedski broke by forcing a forehand error.

Rusedski had to fight off one break point as Hewitt made a desperate last stand but he closed out the match with a 136mph ace.

His reward for beating Hewitt is a quarter-final meeting with Holland's Martin Verkerk, who went through after British number one Tim Henman pulled out with a shoulder injury.

Injury forces Henman out

"I felt good for tonight's match and I'm quite confident when I play Lleyton," said Rusedski.

"I didn't make any errors and the serving, and my movement around the court, was excellent today.

"This win was worth a lot. He's one of the favourites if not the favourite for the championship.

"He never beats himself so when you beat him you know he is playing good tennis and that gives you a lot of confidence."

Third seed Tommy Haas survived a tough test against Michel Kratochvil to win 4-6 7-5 6-1.

Haas double-faulted three times on the way to dropping his serve at 3-3 in the first set, and the match remained in the balance until he broke serve at 6-5 to take the second set.

The 11th seed Andrei Pavel lost 2-6 6-4 6-1 to Felix Mantilla and 16th seed Fabrice Santoro was beaten 7-6 6-2 by France's Arnaud Di Pasquale.

Sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean beat Nicolas Kiefer 7-6 6-4, ninth seed Rainer Schuettler crushed eighth seed Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-2 while 15th seed Arnaud Clement ended the run of Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4.

RCA Championship third round results

Greg Rusedski (GB, 14) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Aus, 1) 7-6 6-4
Sebastien Grosjean (Fra, 6) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 7-6 6-3
Arnaud Clement (Fra, 15) bt Mario Ancic (Cro) 6-3 6-4
Felix Mantilla (Spa) bt Andrei Pavel (Rom, 11) 2-6 6-4 6-1
Arnaud DiPasquale (Fra) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra, 16) 7-6 6-2
Martin Verkerk (Neth) bt Tim Henman (GB) walkover
Tommy Haas (Ger, 3) bt Michel Kratochvil (Switz) 4-6 7-5 6-1
Rainer Schuettler (Ger, 9) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel, 8) 6-3 6-2