Arnaud Clement reached the Legg Mason Classic semi-finals by stunning third seed Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 6-4 Friday, his first victory over the Australian in eight attempts.
Clement will next face unseeded Marat Safin, a 7-6 7-6 winner over South African Wesley Moodie, on Saturday. British teenager Andy Murray, who crushed American Mardy Fish 6-2 6-4, will meet Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the other semi-final.
Tursunov overwhelmed Tim Henman 6-3 6-2 in the quarter-finals, ending the possibility of an eagerly anticipated all-British match-up between Murray and his boyhood hero.
Clement's triumph over Hewitt was a welcome lift for the Frenchman whose overall record this year is just 13-14. Clement raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set before Hewitt rallied to take the next four games. The Australian, however, failed to close out the set, losing his serve at 5-4.
"I fought so hard to get back," said the 12th-ranked Hewitt. "If I could have gotten that first set at 6-4 under my belt then I would have had a lot of momentum coming back from 4-1.