April 28, 2002	Sunday	Safar 14, 1423

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BARCELONA, April 27: Unseeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio upset Australian world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-4 7-5 on Saturday to reach the Barcelona Open final.

Hewitt, the top seed at the million-dollar claycourt tournament, could not match the consistency of Gaudio, who extended his record of not having lost a set all week.

The Argentine pinched the first set with a break as Hewitt served at 4-5 before the Australian came back to take a 2-0 lead in the second.

Gaudio saved three break-points in the next and breaks in Hewitt’s last two services games gave him victory in one hour 54 minutes.

Gaudio’s win set up the possibility of an all-Argentine final, with number five seed Guillermo Canas taking on Spain’s Albert Costa in the second semifinal.

“I’ve made some huge improvements this week,” the 21-year-old Australian top seed said as he exited the event at the Real Club de Tenis.

“It’s all a matter of me getting used to the clay,” added Hewitt referring to his step up on the red dirt following a first round defeat at last week’s Monte Carlo Masters.

The world number one nevertheless admitted disappointment for the defeat.—Reuters