Hewitt serves his way into Washington quarters

WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) Third seed Lleyton Hewitt served his way into the quarter-finals of the Legg Mason Classic with a 6-1 6-4 triumph over Germany's Denis Gremelmayr.

Hewitt served just five aces but had no double faults and never faced a break point against Gremelmayr, a left-hander ranked 120th in the world.

''I had my rhythm out there right from the start,'' Hewitt said yesterday ofter the match. ''I felt like I was able to pressure on his service games throughout the whole first set. Pretty much every game I was in control.'' In the last eight, Hewitt will face 11th seed Arnaud Clement of France, who blasted nine aces and never lost his serve during a 6-3 6-2 upset of fifth seed Dominik Hrbaty.

Elsewhere, American Mardy Fish also advanced with a 6-3 6-1 whipping of Andrea Stoppini, the Italian who stunned Andre Agassi in straight sets on Tuesday.

Top seed James Blake was playing two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin later Thursday in the third round of the hard court tournament.

Hewitt looked fresh against Gremelmayr despite playing a gruelling 2 1/2-hour, three-set match on Wednesday night against American Vince Spadea.

Gremelmayr recovered from his first-set debacle and was on serve in the second set at 4-5 before playing a loose service game and allowing Hewitt to close the match.

The Australian now plays Clement, whom he has beaten in seven of eight career matches.

''I haven't played him in over a year now,'' the world number 12 Hewitt said. ''But we've played quite a few times in the past, quite a few on the hard court.

''He's a tough competitor who is extremely fit. If I played the kind of tennis I played today and step it up another notch, things will hopefully go the right way.'' REUTERS VJ RK0620