Gaudio gives Hewitt a claycourt lesson

Lleyton Hewitt was given a claycourt lesson at the French Open on Wednesday by Gaston Gaudio who advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Australian 12th seed Lleyton Hewitt was given a claycourt lesson at the French Open here on Wednesday by unseeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio who advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

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The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires totally outclassed the former Wimbledon and US Open champion who never succeeded in stamping his mark on the game which lasted 1hr 55min on a windy and chilly Philippe Chatrier Centre Court.

It was Gaudio's second win over Hewitt in a fortnight, following his three-sets victory at the World Team Cup on clay in Dussledorf and the Argentine now holds a 3-2 career advantage.

"I thought I should have been more nervous playing in my first Grand Slam quarter-final but I wasn't and I think that's what made the difference," said Gaudio, who is bidding to emulate his childhood hero Guillermo Vilas, the only Argentine to win the title which he took in 1977.

"I've always dreamed of winning Roland Garros. When I was a kid he (Vilas) helped me and gave me some advice. He told me to keep training and fighting like he used to do," said Gaudio, who won his first two ATP titles on clay at Barcelona and Mallorca last year.

Former World No. 1 Hewitt could find no faults in his opponent's game hitting 43 unforced errors, compared to Gaudio's 19, with the clay court specialist winning 20 of 21 net approaches with just seven forehand errors.

"He was too good," admitted Hewitt. "I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball as cleanly as I'd been hitting over the past week or so.

"A guy like that is confident on this surface and his movement is good. He's a class player on this surface."

Hewitt had been hoping to reach the last four in Paris for the first time, but after breaking to love in the very first game the Australian struggled.

Gaudio broke straight back and in the crucial sixth game the Argentine fought back from 40-0 down on Hewitt's serve to break again and take the set in 39 minutes.

In the second set Gaudio broke immediately rushing to a 4-0 lead.

Hewitt held serve for 1-4, but could not match the power of the Argentinian who served out to love to wrap up the second set in 36 minutes.

The 23-year-old Australian was 0-3 down in the third set before holding serve to love when the Argentinian received treatment for a cut and bloodied knee following a fall.

But the fightback was short-lived with Hewitt left shaking his fist in fury as a series of mishits allowed Gaudio to hold serve in the sixth game for a 4-2 advantage.

In the seventh game Hewitt dropped his serve after handing Gaudio break point with a sloppy hit into the net, which the Argentian converted after another Hewitt blunder into the net.

And Gaudio did not hesitate taking the tie on his first match point when Hewitt hit long, to set up a meeting with either compatriot David Nalbandian, the eighth seed, or Brazilian three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, for a place in the final.

"His defence is so good, specially today. He didn't give me a lot of chances to attack him," added Hewitt.