Sixth-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt defeated Rainer Schuettler of Germany 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the ABN Amro tournament.

In another quarterfinal match, defending champion Max Mirnyi of Belarus beat Finn Jarko Nieminen 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Hewitt and Schuettler were well-matched from the baseline, and each broke the other's service twice en route to the tiebreaker.

"He makes you work for every point," Hewitt said.

In the tiebreaker, Hewitt went up 4-0 before Schuettler fought his way back to 6-5, despite double-faulting twice. Hewitt finished it off with a crisp return of serve.

In the second set, Hewitt broke Schuettler in the fourth game to go up 3-1. In the following game, Schuettler injured a fingernail on his serving right hand.

He continued the match, but never again seriously challenged during Hewitt's service.

Hewitt said his victory in the Davis Cup had "given him a lot of confidence" as he prepared to face either Roger Federer or Tim Henman in the semifinal.

"Roger's obviously on a high right now. He's a great player and he's showing how good he is," Hewitt said.

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