Hewitt crashes out of Monte Carlo

Alberto Martin returns the ball to Marat Safin. PHOTO: AFP

Fiesty Australian Lleyton Hewitt came close to another miracle escape at the Monte Carlo Masters here on Thursday before going down to a third round 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat to German fourth seed Rainer Schuettler.

Hewitt, seeded 14 here, had come from a set down in the first round to beat France's Julien Benneteau. He repeated the escape act, as well as saving two match points, against Gaston Gaudio of Argentina in the second round before finally coming up short against the German.

After levelling at one-set each, he led 3-0 in the final set and had a point to go 4-0 before Schuettler mounted his winning recovery after a pulsating 2hr 23min on court.

Schuettler faces Britain's sixth seed Tim Henman who came back from a set down to defeat Chilean ninth seed Nicolas Massu 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Henman a semifinalist here in 2002 beating Massu on the way but he got off to a disastrous start dropping serve four times in the first set.

"I was struggling with my serve and had no rhythm but I didn't want to dwell on dropping my serve four times," said Henman.

Henman his first ever Masters title in Paris last year and he believes that has contributed to him having a new attitude on court.

"Paris was a big turning point. Before that I was getting very frustrated but the Paris result has changed my outlook.

"I'm out there trying 100 percent for every point.

"But in between, I'm going to relax and make sure I'm fresh for the next point."

Argentinian seed Guillermo Coria and former world number one Marat Safin of Russia stayed on course for a semi-final showdown after both men also moved into the last eight.

Coria a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Romania's Andrei Pavel while Safin, battling his way back up the rankings after a 2003 decimated by a wrist injury, cruised past Australian veteran Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 6-2.

Coria faces fellow Argentinian David Nalbandian, the seventh seed, while Safin, the Australian Open runner-up, faces Spain's Alberto Martin.

Nalbandian the only French player left in the draw, Fabrice Santoro, 6-3, 6-2 while Martin won a gruelling three-set tussle with Agustin Calleri.

Safin just 67 minutes to wrap up victory allowing the 33-year-old Arthurs, who came into the main draw as a replacement for top seed Andy Roddick, just two break points in the entire match.

"Arthurs is a difficult player for everyone to face on hard courts and on grass but on clay, it's a different story, it's too slow," said the Russian.

Coria, runner-up in 2003, is the highest seed left in the tournament following the withdrawal of top seed Roddick and the defeat of defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia reached his first career Masters quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic.