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Tsonga ends Lleyton Hewitt hopes

Lleyton Hewitt hits a shot during his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Adelaide International Tennis Tournament in Australia yesterday. PHOTO: EPA

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt's chances of winning his hometown Australian men's hardcourt championships for a third time, beating the Australian 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals yesterday.

Tsonga, 22, defeated Hewitt last year at the Queen's Club in London and was dominant again over the former world No. 1. Hewitt has won the Adelaide tournament twice before, including his first tournament singles victory as a pro in 1998.

"I felt like I had as many chances as he did throughout the match, but I just didn't serve well on the big points when I needed to, and that was the difference," Hewitt said.

One Australian did advance to the semi-finals -- 32-year-old wild card Joe Sirianni, who beat second-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6).

In other quarter-finals yesterday, Michael Llodra of France beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4 and third-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland defeated American Vince Spadea 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5).
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