2003 February 18 - Henman content with Rotterdam defeat

Tim Henman was upbeat despite defeat in his first competitive match in 3 months following shoulder surgery.

The result at the ATP World Indoor Tournament was 6-4 6-2 in favour of the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. However, the fact that Tim came through unscathed was was far more important than the result in Rotterdam.

After the match Tim said:

"It's a funny mixture of emotions. Even though I'm disappointed that I lost, if I'm honest I felt pretty pleased with the way my shoulder felt.

"It's my first match (after such a long time) and I was playing without any pain or infringement and that's something I've been looking forward to for a long time.

"At times there was an element of apprehension when I was going for the shots so it will take time to build up the confidence in my game. I need to be patient."