Rusedski is ready for Aussie assault

13 April 2012

Greg Rusedski is confident he can overcome Australian Lleyton Hewitt later today and advance to the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Masters Series.

The British No 2 knocked out US Open champion and top seed Marat Safin 7-6, 6-4 yesterday and feels he is back to some sort of form after a season plagued by injury.

"I'm playing well," said Rusedski. "If someone is going to beat me, he's going to have to play some good tennis. That's a nice feeling. To be in the quarters of a big event is a nice feeling."

He said that a minor back pain niggle, which at one point saw him stretched out on the court against Russian star Safin, was nothing to worry about.

"It's just a bit of stiffness. This is a rough court on the body, it's the same for everybody," Rusedski said.

He is more than pleased with his comeback after finally recovering from foot surgery, which has dogged him for most of what has been a frustrating season.

"I wasn't surprised to win my first two matches, but I'm pleasantly pleased to be in the quarter-finals," said the 27-year-old who is looking for a permanent coach - with Pat Cash the possible candidate.

Rusedski came back from a break down in the first set against Safin, levelling at five-all and winning the tiebreaker 7-2. In the second set, Rusedski broke to lead 2-1 and went on to convincingly beat the 20-year-old Safin. Hewitt, meanwhile, booked his place in the last eight with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over ninth seed and British No 1 Tim Henman.

It was the second time that Hewitt has beaten Henman this season. "It was a match that had its moments," said Henman, who will rest next week to prepare for the last of the nine Masters tournaments of the season in Paris.

"The lesson I learned is finding the balance against him - when to come in and attack, when to stay back," Henman said. "He's a phenomenal competitor, very consistent and tenacious."

In the other quarter-final matches, Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands takes on Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov, South Africa's Wayne Ferreira plays Romanian Andrei Pavel, conqueror of Andre Agassi in the last round.

The final match sees Michael Chang of the US against Sebastien Grosjean of France.

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