Youzhny tactics to trouble Henman

Tim Henman will play Mikhail Youzhny for the first time today on what both men have reason to regard as a court of dreams here at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy.

Tim Henman will play Mikhail Youzhny for the first time today on what both men have reason to regard as a court of dreams here at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy.

A year ago, Henman won the Paris Masters, the biggest title of his career, defeating Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick en route to the final.

Two years ago, the arena belonged to Youzhny after he became the first player to recover from two sets to love down to win a fifth and deciding rubber in a Davis Cup final.

The Muscovite's victory against Paul-Henri Mathieu, of France, took the trophy to Russia for the first time, and Boris Yeltsin, the country's former president, ran on the court to hog the celebrations.

Prior to Henman's triumph last year, however, the British No 1 had a phobia about the indoor tournament here. In the past, the "pressure of expectation" in trying to qualify for the Masters Cup made him feel that his feet were sticking to the court.

Last November he was ranked 31st in the world and had no chance of qualifying for the Masters Cup in Houston. A relaxed Henman, encouraged by advice over the telephone from Paul Annacone, Pete Sampras' former coach, reverted to his natural attacking game.

Since then, Henman, having hired Annacone on a part-time basis, has relied on his aggressive style to take him to the semi-finals at both the French Open and the US Open.

On arriving in Bercy to defend his title, Henman believed he had to reach the quarter-finals to be guaranteed a place in Houston on Monday week. Withdrawals from Paris by his rivals, Andre Agassi and David Nalbandian, removed that pressure.

Henman, given a bye in the first round, had an emphatic win in his opening match against Paradorn Srichaphan, of Thailand, 6-3, 6-4, on Monday night.

Yesterday, Youzhny, ranked 20th, eliminated Jiri Novak, of the Czech Republic, a player whose measured baseline style undid Henman in the first round at the Athens Olympics and in the quarter-finals of last week's Basle tournament.

It remains to be seen whether the 22-year-old Youzhny's back-court game will suit the third-seeded Henman any better than Novak's. The Czech, who won the Basle title last Sunday, seemed to tire in the second set against Youzhny, the Russian winning 6-3, 7-5.

Youzhny, who also beat Novak in Athens, has been in good form in recent months. He was a finalist in Beijing, losing to his compatriot, Marat Safin, a semi-finalist in Moscow, and won the title in St Petersburg last week, defeating Greg Rusedski, the British No 2, in the semi-finals.

The sixth-seeded Safin, twice a champion here, advanced to the third round, overcoming Ivan Ljubicic, of Croatia, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5. Safin was warned for swearing in the opening set, in which he lost the tie-break 7-1. Roddick, the top seed, defeated Sargis Sargsian, of Armenia, 6-2, 6-2.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 19-year-old French qualifier who eliminated Mario Ancic, of Croatia, in the first round, was unable to progress further when faced with the relentless groundstrokes of Guillermo Canas. The Argentinian 13th seed won 6-1, 6-3.