Second seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia has been eliminated from the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters Series tennis tournament, losing in straight sets to Russia's Marat Safin.
Hewitt, the highest seeded player remaining in the draw, fell to the sixth-seeded Russian 6-4, 7-6. In Saturday's semifinals, Safin takes on number-13 Guillermo Canas of Argentina, who topped Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 6-3, 6-3.
Czech player Radek Stepanek scored a straight-set win over Russian Mikhail Youzhny (7-6, 6-3). The Czech player faces the winner of the last match Friday between Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Robin Soderling of Sweden.
The tournament is the last Tennis Masters Series event before the Tennis Masters Cup begins in Houston, Texas, November 13th. The top prize in the elite, eight-man tournament in Houston is $700,000.