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Hewiit, Henman advance in Queens Posted: Friday June 14, 2002 6:53 PMLONDON (AP) -- Top seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Tim Henman both advanced to the semifinals of the Queen's Club grass-court tournament Friday. Hewitt, bidding for a third straight Queen's title, edged ninth-seeded Todd Martin 7-6 (4), 7-5 in a match that was twice held up by rain. Henman, meanwhile, fought back from a set down to beat South Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. In the day's other quarterfinals, former champion Wayne Ferreira of South Africa was forced to pull out with a back injury while trailing Dutchman Raemon Sluiter 6-1, 5-4 and fifth-seed Sjen Schalken beat Wayne Arthurs 6-3, 7-6 (4). Hewitt will now face Schalken in the semifinals while Henman will play Sluiter. The first service break in Hewitt's match came at 3-3 in the second set, and the next occurred at a crucial stage with Martin holding a break point to lead 4-3. Martin converted that opportunity, but Hewitt immediately broke back and went on to close out the victory on his fourth match point. "He's tough to play on grass and I knew I had my work cut out," Hewitt said. "It was only a few points here and there that won the match. Henman was in deep trouble early in his clash with Lee as he struggled to find his serve while being forced to rally from the baseline instead of playing his preferred serve and volley game. Lee took the first set on his third set point, but Henman responded by playing a more attacking game in the second set. In the deciding set, Henman swiftly built a 4-0 lead, and went on to close out the contest on his fourth match point. "He outplayed me for three-quarters of the first set," Henman admitted. The 10th-seeded Ferreira was clearly restricted by his injury. After play was stopped by rain, he did not return, allowing Sluiter to go through to the semifinals.
Ferreira also withdrew from the doubles. His status for
Wimbledon, which starts June 24, was uncertain.
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