Federer ends Hewitt's winning sequence

Switzerland's Roger Federer upset top seed Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to reach the final of the Nasdaq-100 Open Masters, handing the world number one his first defeat on American soil in 23 matches.

It was another impressive performance by the 12th-seeded Swiss, who has not dropped a set or had his serve broken on the way to his first career Masters final.

Federer now meets defending champion Andre Agassi, who claimed his first career win over Marcelo Rios, and a place in the final for the seventh time, when the Chilean suddenly retired with their match level at 6-7 (7-9) 6-4.

Unbeaten in the United States since his U.S. Open victory last year and riding a two-tournament winning streak, Hewitt lacked his usual tenacity after an exhausting three-set quarter-final win over Russian Marat Safin on Thursday.

Hewitt's four matches going into the semifinal averaged two hours while Federer disposed of his opponents in an average of 57 minutes.

Federer, who had lost to the Australian in four of their five previous meetings, had only one early break in each set but that was all the edge the 20-year-old Swiss needed with Hewitt unable to convert his three break opportunities.