The Australian will be happy with the victory as he normally struggles against Corretja, the Spaniard having won the three previous meetings between them.
The top seed is in pursuit of his first title of the year, and he next plays in-form American Taylor Dent, who romped to a 6-1 6-3 victory over another Spaniard, David Sanchez.
Hewitt — the 2000 champion — remains a strong favourite to advance to the final, having lost just twice in 17 matches at the Arizona event.
He is coming off a tournament win in Memphis two weeks ago.
Australia’s Mark Philippoussis, the 1997 champion, set up a meeting with Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta in the other semi-final.
The big-serving Philippoussis, a wild card entry this year, rallied from a dreadful start to upset third-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina 0-6 6-3 6-4.
Zabaleta booked his berth in the last four with a 3-6 6-4 6-4 victory over American James Blake in a night match.
Results: (prefix number denotes seeding):
Quarterfinals: Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) beat James Blake (U.S.) 3-6 6-4 6-4; 1-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat 6-Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-4 6-2; Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat 3-David Nalbandian (Argentina) 0-6 6-3 6-4; Taylor Dent (U.S.) beat David Sanchez (Spain) 6-1 6-3
INDIAN WELLS (California): Top seed Kim Clijsters and defending champion Daniela Hantuchova marched into the third round of the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open on Friday, while sixth seed Jelena Dokic was sent reeling out of the tournament.
Clijsters registered a routine 6-3 7-5 win over Columbia’s Fabiola Zuluaga, while Slovakia’s Hantuchova outclassed Petra Mandula of Hungary 6-2 6-3.
Dokic continued her poor start to the season and was upset 6-1 5-7 6-3 by German veteran Barbara Rittner.
Belgium’s Clijsters, who lost in the final of last week’s Scottsdale tournament to Ai Sugiyama, had trouble with Zuluaga’s variety and placement and fell behind 3-5 in the second set.
But the world’s third-ranked player came roaring back, pouncing on her opponent’s second serve and exhausting her in hard crosscourt rallies.
With top-ranked Serena Williams and her sister and number two Venus skipping the tournament, Clijsters is the player that everyone wants to beat.
Hantuchova played a clean, well-thought out match against Mandula, easily controlling the centre of the court against the Hungarian and lacing winners crosscourt.
The third seed, who won her first title here last year by stunning Martina Hingis in the final, was overjoyed that she managed to make it out of the second round.
In losing her third straight opening match at a tournament, the 19-year-old Dokic played erratically, never able to get her huge groundstrokes under control and frequently missing the sidelines on her favoured blasts down the line.
Rittner broke Dokic to 5-3 in the third set when Dokic netted a leaping forehand and the 29-year-old German closed out the match when the Yugoslav went wide on another forehand.
Results:
Second round: 16-Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) beat Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-2; 18-Lisa Raymond (U.S.) beat Silvija Talaja (Croatia) 3-6 6-3 6-2; 1-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Fabiola Zuluaga (Columbia) 6-3 7-5; 3-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Petra Mandula (Hungary) 6-2 6-3; Barbara Rittner (Germany) beat 6-Jelena Dokic (Yugoslavia) 6-1 5-7 6-3; 17-Silvia Farina Elia (Italy) beat Alina Jidkova (Russia) 6-4 6-0; Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) beat 19-Tatiana Panova (Russia) 4-6 6-4 6-4; 21-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Claudine Schaul (Luxembourg) 6-4 6-4; 26-Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; 27-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat Els Callens (Belgium) 6-4 6-0; 31-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Tatiana Golovin (France) 7-5 7-5; Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) beat 32-Janette Husarova (Slovakia) 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-2; 15-Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Evgenia Koulikovskaya (Russia) 6-2 6-1; 8-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) beat Marion Bartoli (France) 6-4 6-3; 10-Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Stephanie Cohen Aloro (France) 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-1); Cara Black (Zimbabwe) beat 11-Anna Pistolesi (Israel) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3
DELRAY BEACH (Florida): American Mardy Fish crushed Spain’s Alberto Martin 6-3 6-3 on Friday to earn a semi-final berth at the $380,000 International Tennis Championships.
Fish faces a much tougher opponent in his first semi-final as he must overcome third-seeded Chilean Marcelo Rios if he wishes to progress further.
Former world number one Rios beat South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik 6-3 6-4 to become the only non-American in the last four.
The other semi-final pits qualifier Robert Kendrick against fourth seed, Jan-Michael Gambill. Kendrick, competing in just his second ATP Tour event, advanced with a surprise 6-0 6-4 win over Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus.
He took all but 13 of the 40 points in the opening set to set up the rout. Gambill overcame a shaky start to defeat Brazilian Flavio Saretta 4-6 7-6 6-0.
Results:
Quarterfinals: 3-Marcelo Rios (Chile) beat Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 6-3 6-4; 4-Jan-Michael Gambill (U.S.) beat Flavio Saretta (Brazil) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-0; Robert Kendrick (U.S.) beat Vladimir Voltchkov (Belarus) 6-0 6-4; Mardy Fish (U.S.) beat Alberto Martin (Spain) 6-3 6-3—Reuters