MONACO, 22 April 2004 — Australian 16th seed Lleyton Hewitt and Britain’s Tim Henman, seeded six, put themselves on a collision course for a Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal showdown after both men secured grueling three-set wins here yesterday.
Hewitt staged a sensational comeback when he recovered from a set down and saved two match points to beat Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 while Henman, a semifinalist in 2002, saw off Spanish clay court specialist David Sanchez 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3 to set up a third round clash with Chilean ninth seed Nicolas Massu.
Hewitt, known for his never-say-die spirit, called on all of his fighting qualities to keep his hopes of the title here alive.
“I was a little bit lucky but I just hung in there because he hardly made an error in the first set,” said Hewitt who finished the 2hr 20min match with 28 winners against 52 unforced errors and now takes on fourth seeded German Rainer Schuettler.
It was only the third time in his career that he had gone onto win after saving match points.
“He has got one of the best single-handed backhands in the world and he played really well for a set and a half,” added the Australian.
“I was lucky to come back from a double break down in the second set but I went back to basics, started to dictate play and opened up the court, making him work a lot more.”
Hewitt had lost his last meeting to Gaudio in Barcelona on clay two years ago and this match seemed to be heading the same way when he slipped to 3-0 down in the second set before he staged his remarkable recovery.
He saved match points in the tie-break and then Gaudio’s game fell apart with the Australian storming to a 4-0 lead and taking the match when the Argentinian netted a return.
Henman served and volleyed his way into the third round after 2hr 2min.
“He’s been consistently good on clay over the years and he has a big serve and a big forehand, but I feel my game matches up pretty well,” said Henman.
Russia’s Marat Safin, runner-up in Estoril last weekend, also made it through to the next round with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Belarussia’s Max Mirnyi.
Third-seeded Argentinian Guillermo Coria confirmed his position as favorite for the title when he eased through with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.
With the world’s top two Roger Federer and Andy Roddick opting not to play here, and with defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero losing to Spanish countryman Alex Corretja, Coria finds himself as the top contender to clinch the title on Sunday.
Coria, the runner-up here in 2003, will now take on Andrei Pavel of Romania for a place in the quarterfinals.
Two seeded players were knocked out yesterday.
French Open runner-up Martin Verkerk, seeded 14, lost 6-3, 6-2 to Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic while French eighth seed Sebastien Grosjean went down 6-4, 6-2 to Spain’s Alberto Martin.
Meanwhile, Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina won the battle of last weekend’s title winners.
Chela, who won in Estoril, defeated Houston’s German champion Tommy Haas 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 and now plays fifth seed and 1998 champion Carlos Moya who had a walkover against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
