By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer staff writer

MASON - Tennis is as much about motivation as muscle. Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin both have plenty of punch, but their hearts haven't always played along.

MASTERS COVERAGE

• Quarterfinals feature a top-ranked reunion • Photos of Thursday's action • 25 matches to remember • Bounce may be back for Agassi's play • Hewitt, Safin renew focus • Roddick on the march • Spin doctor Santoro starting to gain confidence • UC to honor Talbert, Trabert • Masters results, schedules

Hewitt had off-court matters both good (romance with Kim Clijsters) and bad (suing the ATP Tour), and from No. 1 he fell out of the top 10. Safin admits a couple years as a playboy distracted him, and injury followed to knock him from No. 1 to 77.

Both are back. Their meeting today in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters promises to be the hardest-hitting quarterfinal.

"I feel like I've got better and better with every match," Hewitt said.

Hewitt cautioned that he's not predicting a surge to the summit. "I'm just trying to win matches at the moment," he said.

Safin cued a similar soundtrack.

"It's not so easy to come back ... and all of a sudden become No. 1 in the world.

"If you don't play for (most of) a year, you're losing that touch, you're losing that feeling. ... And you need to bring it back."

Hewitt is perhaps a bit closer to top form. He has reached the quarterfinals in six of his last seven tournaments. The exception was a round-of-16 loss last week in Tennis Masters Canada. He is ranked 10th in the world.

He hasn't lost a set this week, and he blasted No. 5 seed Tim Henman 6-1, 6-4 Thursday.

"I think after his two good years where he was No. 1 and then, by his standard, his game sort of dropped off a little bit, there's been sort of a focus on some others," Henman said. "And I wouldn't be surprised now if he really starts making a big surge toward the top again."

Hewitt and Safin have split their eight career meetings, though they haven't played since 2002.

Safin, who's ranked 14th, has not lost any service games this week, joining Andy Roddick as the only players in the field who can claim that.

"He's got a great game," Hewitt said of Safin. "He's obviously got a lot of power. He can hit winners from everywhere.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com