Hewitt advances to Newport semi-final

 Australian third seed Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the semi-finals of the $474,000 ATP Hall of Fame Championships with a 6-4, 6-4 victory Friday over US sixth seed Steve Johnson.
The 33-year-old Aussie, seeking his third trip in a row to the finals of the grass-court event, needed just 78 minutes to secure a quarter-final triumph in his first career meeting with the American.
Hewitt will play for a spot in Sunday's final against the winner of a later match between US top seed John Isner, the 2011 and 2012 Newport champion, and American seventh seed Jack Sock.
Saturday's other semi-final matchup will send Croatian second seed Ivo Karlovic against Australian Samuel Groth, who upset defending champion Nicolas Mahut of France in the quarter-finals.
Hewitt, who won his first ATP title since 2010 at Brisbane in January, lost to Mahut in last year's Newport final and to Isner in the 2012 title match.
Source: AFP