2004 Oct 20 - Henman cruising in Madrid

Tim Henman claimed an impressive second round win over Spaniard Albert Costa 6-4 6-2 in the Tennis Masters Madrid in Spain.

In the first round Tim broke the Costa serve twice on his way to establishing a 5-1 lead. He was then pegged back 5-4 by the Spanish maestro who reeled off three games in a row but was unable to catch the next game as Tim held on for 6-4.

The second set started just as well for Tim as he achieved an early break and followed this up with a break in the final game of the set for 6-2.

After the match Tim said:

"Costa held his serve at 5-1 and in several games I lost my mental routine, I wasn't concentrating on every point and made life difficult for myself.

"When my head was clear I felt comfortable."

In the third round Tim will face the dangerous Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. They have met on three previous occasions but Ivan has been victorious in their last two matches.

Tim added:

"These will be conditions that suit Ljubicic well.

"He's got a huge, huge serve. I think that emphasises the point that I have to take care of my serve because there probably won't be too many opportunities.

"But (against Costa) I hit good serves at the right time and if I can be disciplined and serve aggressively, I will be hard to break."