Memphis, Tennessee: Michael Russell upset third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Friday in the quarterfinals of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships.
With the win, the 35-year-old American reached his third career ATP Tour semifinal and first since Newport in 2013.
Russell, who lives in Houston, needed an hour, 48 minutes to finish off the former world No. 1, and he finally beat Hewitt after being broken with two double-faults when serving for the match up 5-4. Russell also failed to convert a couple of match points in the tiebreaker before winning.
He will play defending champion Kei Nishikori on Saturday. The top-seeded Nishikori rallied to beat Russian Mikhail Bogomolov Jr. 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 earlier Friday.
Fourth-seeded Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan was playing American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov, and American Jack Sock will play Ivo Karlovic of Croatia on Friday night at The Racquet Club.
