Tennis: Electric Safin Halts Hewitt

When Marat Safin is good he is very, very good, and yesterday evening, as darkness engulfed the city, his form was as high-voltage as the indoor lighting in Bercy's Palais Omnisport.

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt did his level best to resist the irresistible but was swept away by the huge Russian 6-4, 7-6.

Safin being Safin, it was not totally straightforward. He served for the match at 5-4, and Hewitt levelled. But in the tie-break he returned to his imperious best, winning it 7-2.

The organisers of the French Indoor Open must have dearly wished they could have fiddled the draw yesterday morning for Hewitt and Safin to play each other in tomorrow's final. For this was the only match that anybody really cared about yesterday, and it was only a quarter-final.

There was history here, with Hewitt holding a 5-4 career advantage, including their past two meetings, but Safin had defeated the Australian in the final here two years ago.

Since reaching the final of the Australian Open at the beginning of the year the Russian had largely been a dormant volcano but he erupted in the previous Masters Series event in Madrid last month, beating Andre Agassi in the semi-finals and Argentina's David Nalbandian in the final.

Hewitt scuffled and hustled yesterday but, when Safin turned on the power, notably his two-hand backhand, the Australian was sent hurtling into the corners in vain. Safin has won the title twice already, and today plays Argentina's Guillermo Cañas for a place in the final.

Hewitt is already casting his mind in the direction of next year's Australian Open. He came to France early to get away from the near-constant gossip and speculation that has surrounded him since Belgium's Kim Clijsters last month called off their planned wedding. But he knows only too well that the very public end to their affair will be reopened time and again in Melbourne next January.

In a perverse fashion the break-up of his relationship with Clijsters may help him redouble his efforts to close the gap on Roger Federer. However, Hewitt has noted, like the world No1's other main rivals, that the 23-year-old Swiss has already opted not to play for his country in the first round of the Davis Cup next year.

Federer, who missed Bercy with a torn thigh muscle but hopes to be fit for the Masters Cup in Houston this month, said: "I now have to think about how I can perform at the same level or even improve my game. My goal for the season is realistic only if I focus completely on the grand slams and plan all my tournaments around this strategy."

"I can totally understand his point of view," said Hewitt, who is set to join both Federer and Safin in the Masters Cup. Not that he would give up the Davis Cup in a million years.