Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt staged a remarkable comeback to oust local favourite Tommy Haas 6-4 7-5 in the second round of the Hamburg Masters.

The Australian trailed 5-1 in the second set but then won six games in a row, surviving nine set points along the way, to seal victory.

"I played a great first set and then had to try and weather the storm and take my chances," said Hewitt.

"You are never comfortable about coming back from such a situation, but I've done it against him before.

"I just hung in there. I knew that if I got the first break back he would start thinking about it. That's what happened."

The support of 10,000 partisan fans could not save Haas, who was let down by his serve and made several double faults at critical moments.

Hewitt, seeded 17th in the last major men's tournament before the French Open starting on May 24, now faces Brazil's Flavio Saretta, who beat Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-4 6-3.

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