Tennis French Open, men's singles quarter-finals: The clay court brawler Lleyton Hewitt departed with barely a whimper. Normally the player to burst his way into a match and shake up his opponent, Hewitt yesterday was cowed by the more classic clay game of Gaston Gaudio.

Rarely does the former Wimbledon and US Open champion poll the sympathy vote, but yesterday, against the lithe and flashing Argentinian, Hewitt left meekly. There were no volcanic eruptions or profanity-laden outbursts. The face was red from exertion, not blind rage, as the unseeded Gaudio moved him side to side and up and down.

Hewitt always needs a foothold, or a hint that he can elbow his way back into difficult matches, but Gaudio gave him nothing on which to feed. No openings offered, no weaknesses exposed, Gaudio stifled Hewitt's fight and blunted his game 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. And all in under two hours.

Gaudio's win means there will be at least one Argentinian in the final, as the former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian also ended the run of the three-time winner here, Gustavo Kuerten. Kuerten, playing with what seems now to be a chronic hip problem, went out in four sets to Nalbandian.

The versatile Nalbandian made a surprise dart to the All England club final in 2002 before losing in straight sets to Hewitt in the most lopsided final since 1984.

With Guillermo Coria also ranked as a favourite to advance in the other semi-final, it may well be an all-Argentina final. The semi-final line up is Tim Henman and three Argentinians. Roll on the red tops.

For Hewitt, his sights now turn to the Queens tournament, which he has won three times, and beyond that to Wimbledon, where he was champion. While Henman is taking the view that Roland Garros is merely red grass, Hewitt is savouring the change.

"I play Queens next week and then a week off," he said. "I've always been able to change pretty well. I've won Queens three times and I've always played well there. For some reason, I've been able to adjust maybe a little better than some people in the past."

Indeed Hewitt's match was played under the conditions normally associated with Queens and Wimbledon, with the crowd wrapped up and a cold, blustery wind blowing through Court Philippe Chatrier.

On this occasion the temperature was never the issue, with two breaks of serve in the first set handing Gaudio a 6-3 lead.

It was no match for connoisseurs of net play, although as the match progressed Hewitt did try to mix his game, but to absolutely no effect.

Gaudio again attacked Hewitt's serve in the opening of the second set for 1-0, and again in the third game for 3-0.

Once more there was no way back, with the 25-year-old winning that one 6-2.

"He was too good," said Hewitt after the third set also led him down a cul-de-sac.

A brief flourish in the fourth game allowed him to claim Gaudio's service for 1-3, but the match needed more than that to turn as Hewitt was again squeezed. Gaudio closed it 6-2.

"I tried hanging in there, you know, trying a few different things," Hewitt said. "Against a guy like that you know he's very confident, especially on this surface."

Kuerten's hugely supported run for a place in the semi-final was always a wish more than a reality. In Nalbandian, he faced a player who could trade from the back and hurt him around the net. While Kuerten played his trademark game with pin-point accuracy from both wings, Nalbandian was the player on form.

Five straight games in the first set gave Nalbandian the opening set 6-2, before Kuerten reminded him of his pedigree and broke serve at the first opportunity in the second set and held for 6-3.

In the third, both players were pressed, with the two exchanging serves twice before Nalbandian crucially broke for a third time in the 10th game for 6-4.

The longer the match stayed on court the less likely Kuerten had of managing his injury, but still he took the fourth to a tie-break. Kurten took a 5-2 lead and served at 5-4, needing just his two service points for two sets each. It just wasn't in the tank, and Kuerten let Nalbandian in for a match-winning 7-6 fourth set.

"I think if I didn't have these problems that I had for two years now, I think I would have the physical conditions to play at the same level as the young guys right now, " said Kuerten. "Today I suffered a lot on the court. I had a very tough time down there."

MEN'S SINGLES - Quarter-finals: G Gaudio (Arg) bt (12) L Hewitt (Aus) 6-3 6-2 6-2, (8) D Nalbandian (Arg) bt (28) G Kuerten (Bra) 6-2 3-6 6-4 7-6 (8-6).

WOMEN'S DOUBLES - Quarter-finals: (1) V Ruano Pascual (Spa) and P Suarez (Arg) bt (7) J Husarova (Svk) and C Martinez (Spa) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-2, S Testud (Fra) and R Vinci (Ita) bt (15) S Farina Elia (Ita) and F Schiavone (Ita) 6-3 6-0, (2) S Kuznetsova (Rus) and E Likhovtseva (Rus) bt J Craybas (US) and M Weingartner (Ger) 6-2 5-7 7-5, (5) M Navratilova (US) and L Raymond (US) bt (4) N Petrova (Rus) and M Shaughnessy (US) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.