INDIAN WELLS, March 16: Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela stunned Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 on Monday, ousting the two-time defending champion and advancing to the next round of the ATP/WTA Masters Series tournament.
The 24-year-old Chela reached the fourth round for the first time at Indian Wells and ended Hewitt's bid for a record third-straight title at the 4.9 million dollar hard-court event.
"This is one of my greatest victories," said Chela, adding his game plan was to sit back and hit groundstrokes with Hewitt. "I play better from the baseline. I know Hewitt is good at drawing his opponent to the net and then hitting passing shots."
Chela also halted Hewitt's consecutive match winning streak here at 13. Chela will play Germany's Tommy Haas, who needed three sets to beat Spain's Albert Costa 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed Roger Federer also advanced, easily beating Chile's Fernando Gonzelez in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. He was joined in the fourth round by British ninth seed Tim Henman, Americans Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and James Blake.
In WTA matches Russia's Maria Sharapova defeated 14-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatancheva 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and American Amy Frazier defeated Martina Sucha, of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-1.
It was a humbling experience for the precocious 14-year-old Karatancheva, who had claimed Sharapova was scared of her having apparently avoided playing an exhibition match against her and the Bulgarian had boasted on Saturday she would kick the Russian's 'butt'.
Chela served at 72 percent to Hewitt's 39 percent. He made just 24 unforced errors and had no double faults. Hewitt double faulted eight times but hit 43 winners.
This is the first time Chela has reached the fourth round at Indian Wells and the 10th time he has beaten a top ten ranked player. Under sunny skies and with temperatures hitting 39 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), Chela held up well in the sweltering heat.
Hewitt is disappointed he won't get to accomplish the three-peat. Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang are the only players who have won this event three times but neither did it in succession.
Hewitt joins his fiancee, Belgian Kim Clijsters, on the sidelines. Clijsters pulled out Saturday with a wrist injury. Hewitt wasn't making excuses but said the heat and the balls were a problem for him.
Results
Men:
Irakli Labadze (Georgia) bt Hicham Arazi (Morocco) 6-3 6-4; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-3 6-2; Andy Roddick (U.S.) bat Marat Safin (Russia) 7-6 (8-6) 6-2; ndre Agassi (U.S.) bt Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-2 6-4; Taylor Dent (U.S) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-3 6-2; Wayne Arthers (Australia) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 4-6 6-2 6-3; Nicolas Escude (France) bt Vincent Spadea (U.S.) 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5); Tim Henman (Britain) bt Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-4 6-4; Sebastien Grosjean (France) bt Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 7-6 (14-12) 6-2; Guillermo Coria (Argentina) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-4 7-5; Agustin Calleri (Argentina) bt Rafael Nadal (Spain) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (12-10); James Blake (U.S.) bt Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) 3-6 6-2 6-3; Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-3 4-6 6-1; Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Albert Costa (Spain) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3; Mardy Fish (U.S.) bt Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-4
Women:
Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) bt Marta Marrero (Spain) 6-1 6-2; Anastasia Myskina (Russia) bt Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 2-6 6-4 6-3; Conchita Martinez (Spain) bt Lisa Raymond (U.S.) 6-4 7-5; Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Alicia Molik (Australia) 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2; Barbara Schett (Austria) bt Paola Suarez (Argentina) 6-3 6-4; Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Sesil Karatancheva (Bulgaria) 3-6 6-3 6-2; Amy Frazier (U.S.) bt Martina Sucha (Switzerland) 6-2 6-1; Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-1 2-1 - retired. -Reuters
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