08 October 2004	Friday	22 Shaban 1425

TOKYO, Oct 7: Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt eased into the third round of the Japan Open tennis tournament on Thursday while Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova booked her place in the women's semifinals.

Hewitt, the Australian top seed, dropped his second set in two matches but still ran out a comfortable 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4 winner over Takao Suzuki of Japan. The 2002 Wimbledon champion, currently ranked third in the world, avoided facing any break points against the 231st-ranked Suzuki during the 113-minute match, converting three of his six break opportunities.

Meanwhile defending women's champion Sharapova breezed past French qualifier Youlia Fedossova 6-3, 6-4 to set up a match against Thai ace Tamarine Tanasugarn. Tamarine advanced to the semi-finals earlier in the day when last year's runner-up Aniko Kapros of Hungary abandoned the match with a knee injury at 6-1, 3-0.

The 2001 runner-up admitted she found it difficult to concentrate with compatriot Paradorn Srichapan struggling to find his form on the adjacent court. Paradorn, the fourth seed, found himself 2-6 down in the first set before beating Harel Levy of Israel 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in the men's singles second round.

RESULTS:

Men's singles (second round): Bjorn Phau bt Andrei Pavel 6-2, 6-1; Jan-Michael Gambill) bt Takahiro Terachi 7-6 (7/5), 6-1; Jiri Novak bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-2; Bohdan Ulihrach bt Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 7-6 (7/5); Ricardo Mello bt Flavio Saretta 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5); aradorn Srichaphan) bt Harel Levy 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4

Third round: Lleyton Hewitt bt Takao Suzuki 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4; Taylor Dent bt Lee Hyung-Taik 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-3; Jiri Novak bt Ricardo Mell; 6-1 6-2, 6-2; Bjorn Phau bt Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6 (7-1) 2-6 6-2; Cyrile Saulnier bt Thomas Johansson 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5); Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) bt David Nalbandian 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4; Paradorn Srichaphan bt Marco Chiudinelli 6-3 4-1 retired; Bohdan Ulihrach beat Michael Kohlmann 6-4 6-2

WOMEN:

Quarterfinals: Maria Sharapova bt Youlia Fedossova) 6-3 6-4;Klara Koukalova bt Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 6-0; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Aniko Kapros 6-1 3-0 retired; Mashona Washington bt Evgenia Linetskaya 6-2 6-1. -Agencies