San Jose, 11 February 2011 | AAP

Australian seventh seed Lleyton Hewitt rallied to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP SAP Open on Thursday.

Hewitt, a former world No.1, ousted Argentina’s Brian Dabul 3-6 7-5 6-3 in a second-round match.

The two-time grand slam singles champion reached a last-eight matchup against another Argentine foe, Juan Martin Del Potro.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, has fallen from fourth to 484th in the rankings with a right wrist injury, but he beat Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1 7-6(1) to book a date with Hewitt, the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion.

No.8 Kei Nishikori from Japan became the fourth seed to be sent packing, falling to 172nd-ranked US wild card Tim Smyczek 6-4 3-6 6-1.

Smyczek will face the winner of a later match between French second seed Gael Monfils, seeking his first title outside Europe, and American Robert Kendrick.