Tennis: Hot Henman can exploit withdrawals

TIM HENMAN has already done better in the Australian Open than last year, but the British No 1's performance in overwhelming the Moroccan Karim Alami for the loss of only six games in the first round in Melbourne yesterday was only part of the reason why the odds on him going all the way and winning a first Grand Slam title have fallen.

Two more of the game's leading players, Marcelo Rios and Goran Ivanisevic, have joined Pete Sampras as absentees from the first Grand Slam tournament of the year - both because of back injuries. Henman, seeded sixth, heard before going on court that Ivanisevic, his scheduled opponent in the fourth round, was out with a pinched nerve.

Then it was announced that Rios, elevated to the No 1 seed after Sampras's decision to give his tired body and mind a rest, had a stress fracture in his vertebra and may be out of tennis until March.

Rios, last year's losing finalist, was in the same quarter of the draw as the eighth seed, Greg Rusedski, so it was a boost for the British No 2 as well as he prepared for his opening match against the Australian Scott Draper today.

If there was an element of relief for Henman following his loss to the little-known Frenchman Jerome Golmard at the same stage last year, then he was not prepared to admit it.

"I didn't think I had anything to be nervous about - I felt very confident," he said after humbling the world No 56, Alami, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in 79 minutes. He already feels the same about his next match, against Sandon Stolle, son of the former US Open and French Open champion Fred Stolle and ranked 240th.

The 24-year-old from Oxford beat Alami in straight sets in Qatar two weeks ago, too, but that was followed by four successive defeats, first to the German qualifier Rainer Schuttler in the Doha final and then to Mark Philippoussis, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Mikael Tillstrom in last week's Colonial Classic exhibition event.

"There wasn't any intensity in those [matches], and I found that tough," Henman said. "I don't think it's something I would do again, but it got me in the right time zone and playing in some windy conditions and some heat."

Henman looked a different player once Alami, 4-3 down, had served three double-faults to hand him the first break in the opening set. The world No 7 took the set with his third love game in a row and raced into 4- 0 leads in both the second and third sets, finishing the match off with a clean forehand winner down the line.

Although his percentage of first serves in was a modest 46 - that will have to improve if he is to reach the concluding stages - Alami managed to take only nine points from his delivery in the entire contest and was broken six times in all.

"It's a different feeling sitting in this chair to 12 months ago," Henman added. "I was really pleased with the way I played - my game got better and better. I think he was pretty demoralised by the end of it all. The win is the most important thing, but if you can do it in straight sets, all the better.

"It can get a lot hotter, so you have to try to conserve as much energy as you can. I think I have a lot more understanding of my game than 12 months ago. I feel like I'm a lot more in control."

With Sam Smith, Britain's only representative in the women's singles, easily overcoming Larisa Neiland 6-0, 6-3 there was plenty to cheer for those cricket fans gathered here for England's one-day match with Sri Lanka today.

Darren Gough was also in the crowd as Smith took only 49 minutes to set up a second-round meeting with the Australian Nicole Pratt, who she beat in the US Open two years ago. "It was a huge relief, because I've not won that many matches lately," said the 27-year-old from Essex, who - helped by beating former winner Conchita Martinez at Wimbledon - rose from 126th to 65 in the world last year.

Venus Williams, Alex Corretja and Richard Krajicek had some nasty moments in their matches, meanwhile. Williams, the fifth seed, was taken to 9- 7 in the decider by Croatia's Silvija Talaja; and Krajicekseeded ninth, came from a set down to beat Hicham Arazi in four. Beaten, though, were the 16th seed Thomas Johansson - by Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti 6-0 in the fifth - and women's 13th seed, Irina Spirlea, 7-5, 6-4 by the German Anke Huber.