Three of the top four seeds – No. 1 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, No. 3 Sam Querrey of the U.S. and No. 4/ reigning champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia lead the quarter-finals line-up Friday at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Overall, there are four South Americans in the last eight. In addition to Gonzalez, the others are Argentines No. 6 seed Horacio Zeballos and Juan Ignacio Chela along with 2000 finalist Nicolas Massu of Chile. Querrey and last year’s runner-up Wayne Odesnik puts at least two Americans into the quarter-finals here for the ninth straight year. Querrey is the only quarter-finalist who has captured an ATP World Tour title (Memphis) this season. Five of the remaining players are at least 29 years old.

In the first match of the day, Massu takes a 1-0 lead against Querrey. In their previous meeting the Chilean prevailed in three sets in the first round here two years ago. Massu is attempting to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February 2007 when he reached the final in Vina del Mar (l. to Horna).

In the second match, Hewitt brings a 5-2 career advantage against 30-year-old Chela, who is the oldest player left (41 days older than Massu). Hewitt is also in the doubles semi-finals (w/coach Nathan Healey). In the first evening session match, they play top seeds and reigning champions Bob and Mike Bryan. Hewitt is appearing in his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. He opened in January with a quarter-final in Sydney and followed with a fourth round showing at the Australian Open where he lost to World No. 1 and eventual champion Roger Federer on Jan. 25.  Four days later (Jan. 29) he underwent right hip surgery. His last semi-final came in Tokyo last October (l. to Youzhny). Chela is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since February 2008 in Buenos Aires.

In the final day session match, Odesnik attempts to reach his third straight semi-final or better in Houston as he takes on Belgian Xavier Malisse for the first time in ATP World Tour play. Malisse defeated No. 2 seed John Isner in three tie-breaks on Thursday to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since January 2008 in Chennai. His last semi-final (or better) came in Delray Beach on Feb. 5, 2007 when he captured his third ATP World Tour title (d. Blake).

In the final evening session match, Gonzalez and Zeballos, who was the ’09 ATP Newcomer of the Year, meet for the first time.  Gonzalez, who won the 2000 US Clay Courts title in Orlando, is 14-4 overall (9-2 on clay). He’s trying to reach his third ATP World Tour semi-final in 2010 (Santiago, Acapulco).

FRIDAY QUARTER-FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS – In Order of Play

Nicolas Massu (CHI) vs (3) Sam Querrey (USA) Massu Leads 1-0
08 Houston (U.S.A.) Clay R32 Nicolas Massu 5-7 6-4 6-4

Massu FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-3
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 6
Date of Birth: October 10, 1979
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 94

Querrey FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
W: Memphis (d Isner); SF: San Jose (l Roddick)
YTD W-L: 11-8
YTD Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: October 7, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 25

(4-WC) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) vs Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)   Hewitt Leads 5-2 (1-0 on clay)
04 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells  Hard R32 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3  4-6 6-1
04 Long Island (USA) Hard QF Lleyton Hewitt 6-7(6) 6-1 6-1
05 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R32 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2  4-6 6-1 6-4
06 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4  6-4 6-7(8) 6-2
06 ATP Masters Series Toronto Hard R64 Lleyton Hewitt 3-6  6-2 7-5
07 ATP Masters Series Hamburg Clay R32 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2 7-6(3)
09 US Open (U.S.A.) Hard R64 Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 6-3 6-4

Hewitt FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Sydney (l Baghdatis)
YTD W-L: 5-2
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 27
Date of Birth: February 24, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 27

Chela FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 7-9
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 4
Date of Birth: August 30, 1979
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 82

Wayne Odesnik (USA) vs Xavier Malisse (BEL) First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
09 Aptos CH (U.S.A.) Hard R16 Wayne Odesnik 6-4 3-6 7-5

Odesnik FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Brisbane (l Stepanek)
YTD W-L: 6-5
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: November 21, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 103

Malisse FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 4-7
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 3
Date of Birth: July 19, 1980
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 89

(1) Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) vs (6) Horacio Zeballos (ARG)  First Meeting

Gonzalez FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Santiago (l Bellucci); Acapulco (l Ferrer)
YTD W-L: 14-4
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 11
Date of Birth: July 29, 1980
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 11

Zeballos FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Buenos Aires (l Monaco)
YTD W-L: 6-8
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: April 27, 1985
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 54