No.1 Hewitt advances to final in Vegas
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-05 09:54

Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt overcame a sluggish start to beat Paul Goldstein 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals of the Tennis Channel Open on Saturday, earning a chance to break a long title drought.

Lleyton Hewitt, of Australia, acknowledges the fans after defeating Paul Goldstein in their semifinal match of Tennis Channel Open tennis tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 4, 2006. Hewitt won, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0. [AP]

Hewitt, who has 25 career tournament titles, hasn't won one since Jan. 16, 2005 when he was victorious in his native Australia. Andy Murray of Great Britain beat him in the championship of the SAP Open last month in San Jose, Calif.

Hewitt, ranked No. 10 in the world, will face the winner of Saturday night's semifinal between No. 5 seed James Blake and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in Sunday's championship.

Hewitt is now 4-0 for his career and 2-0 in 2006 against Goldstein.

Goldstein broke Hewitt's serve four times in the first set. But Hewitt won six of eight break-point attempts in the last two sets.

"Halfway through the second set I felt like I was dictating play and being the better player out there, and playing the kind of tennis that I wanted to play," said Hewitt, who won eight of 13 break points for the match.

"It's like what happened against (Philipp) Kohlschreiber (who defeated Hewitt in January) in Adelaide. I went up 2-0 and then lost an early game in the third, and the whole momentum changed. I was very wary of that. That's why I wanted to play tough and put the pressure on him."

With the loss, Goldstein fell to 2-13 against top 10 opponents.

"He started dictating play in the second (set)," said Goldstein. "I made a few errors early on, the momentum shifted and it was tough for me to get it back together. He's such a phenomenal competitor."