HAMBURG, Germany, 16 May 2004 — Roger Federer highlighted his blossoming claycourt form by crushing former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 6-4 in just an hour in the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters yesterday.

The world No. 1 will face defending champion Guillermo Coria today in the perfect final between the top two seeds and two serious candidates for victory at the French Open starting on May 24.

Argentine Coria, the second seed, extended an impressive winning streak on clay but had to battle for nearly two hours to beat Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Swiss Federer played close to perfection and Hewitt admitted there was little he could do.

Federer was in a class of his own in the first set, which he wrapped up in 24 minutes with a backhand drop shot on set point.

Hewitt was a break down in the second set when he briefly gave the impression he could fight back. Federer, leading 5-3, served for the match but wasted a match point by hitting a backhand wide and was broken.

Federer reacted immediately, breaking Hewitt in the next game with the Australian netting a backhand on match point.

The gifted Swiss all-rounder, who made his breakthrough by winning the Hamburg title two years ago, had lost seven of his previous 10 meetings with Hewitt but had never faced him on clay.

Capriati Stuns Williams to Advance to Rome Final

In Rome fifth seed Jennifer Capriati set up a Rome Masters final against Amelie Mauresmo when she stunned top seed Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4 yesterday.

Today’s final will give the American a chance to gain revenge for her 6-2, 6-0 semifinal loss against the Frenchwoman in Berlin last week.

Capriati had last beaten Williams nearly three years ago, in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

Since then Williams has defeated her on eight occasions, including a Rome semifinal two years ago on her way to winning the title.

Williams looked more comfortable in the early stages of the match, losing just three points in her opening four service games, while forcing Capriati to fend off three break points. The balance swung in the ninth game, however, when a long forehand and a double fault gave Capriati two break points. She converted the second with a whipped crosscourt winner before serving out the set.

Williams regrouped to hold serve in the opening game of the second set, but aggressive returning and heavy groundstrokes pressured her into a series of errors as Capriati broke in the third and fifth games.

Her opponent in the final, Amelie Mauresmo had a much smoother passage past eighth seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-3.

Mauresmo had worked hard to defeat quarterfinal opponent Silvia Farina Elia in a rain-interrupted three-setter on Friday, but looked fresher than the Russian who failed to hold serve once in an error-strewn first set that lasted just 28 minutes.

Mauresmo hit her rhythm early in the second, serving strongly and hitting deep to take a 4-1 lead.