SYDNEY, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Lleyton Hewitt of Australia moved to within eight points of the world No. 1 ranking on Wednesday by dominating American Andre Agassi in round-robin play at the $3.65 million Tennis Masters Cup.
The second-seeded Hewitt defeated the third-seeded Agassi, 6-3, 6-4 to secure a berth in the semifinals of the final ATP tournament of the season.
Seventh-seed Sebastian Grosjean of France defeated sixth-seed Patrick Rafter of Australia, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in Wednesday's other match.
With 20 points in each of his two wins, Hewitt has closed the gap on top-seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, who can regain a 28-point cushion when he faces seventh-seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Hewitt had his serve broken twice in the first set before taking control.
"He is so quick and he gets to the ball early and he can beat you by the element of surprise, which is a huge weapon in his game," says Agassi. "You know, he just had the answer to all my shots today."
Rafter had few answers against Grosjean due to lingering shoulder and arm problems that limited his normally dominant serve.
Agassi, the Australian Open winner who also has a chance of passing Kuerten in the points standings, faces Grosjean on Thursday.
Last season, Kuerten dropped his first match to Agassi before storming back to defeat Magnus Norman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in round-robin action before topping Pete Sampras in the semifinals and Agassi in the championship match to become the first South American to finish the year in the top spot.
