2004 Nov 04 - Henman early exit in Paris

Tim Henman crashed in straight sets 7-5 6-1 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France.

Early in the first set Tim was bossing the game and looked a likely winner but he was unable to earn a break of serve. As the set progressed Mikhail was gaining confidence and producing exquisite tennis which earned him a break point at 5-5 and wasted no time in converting for 6-5 and then served out the set 7-5

A shell shocked Tim Henman was unable to cope with the domination of Mikhail who proceeded to break Tim four times in the second set to take it 6-1.

Although the British No.1 had already pre-qualified for the prestigious end-of-season Masters Cup in Houston (USA) there was still pride at stake in doing well in Paris as Tim was the defending champion.

After the match Tim said:

"He (Youzhny) was on to my serve, was very aggressive and played shots at a high level.

"I wasn't sharp and my movement was sluggish. I couldn't dictate the rallies as I would have liked.

"There is nothing wrong with the way I am hitting the ball. But I was sluggish and I need to get my sharpness back for the Masters Cup."