Hewitt outclasses Hrbaty to reach quarter-finals

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt outclassed Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals for the sixth...

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Former champion Lleyton Hewitt outclassed Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 at the U.S. Open on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals for the sixth year in a row.

The Australian third seed was too strong and too consistent for the 15th-seeded Slovak as he won in 94 minutes to set up a clash with unseeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen.

Hewitt, the champion in 2001 and runner-up to Roger Federer last year, was on top from the start and raced through the first set in just 24 minutes. Hrbaty, again wearing a bizarre shirt with two holes cut out of the back, led 3-1 in the second set but Hewitt won five of the next six games to win the set and then eased through the third to clinch a simple victory.

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Jarkko Nieminen became the first player from Finland to reach the singles quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament by beating Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 in the fourth round.

Nieminen stretched out on his back to savour the moment after Verdasco sent a forehand wide to end the battle between the two left-handers.

He benefited from the injury withdrawal of fifth-seeded Russian Marat Safin, his likely second-round opponent, took advantage of Verdasco’s erratic play — the Spaniard committed 66 unforced errors to only 14 by the Finn.

The 24-year-old Nieminen, who also reached the round of 16 at the 2003 French Open, had been only the second Finn to get that far in a grand slam event following the run by Veli Paloheimo at the 1990 Australian Open.

Nieminen will next meet Lleyton Hewitt.