Henman passes first round test
Tim Henman triumphed in the battle of the thirty-somethings at Roland Garros when he beat Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen in a first round encounter which, apart from one blip in the third set, was as routine as tennis gets at the highest level.
For the most part the former British number one, now 70th in the world rankings, was in control as he cruised imperiously to a 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-4 victory.
It would be good to report that Henman was back on the march but the fact is that Carlsen had lost in the first round of a major 29 times in 45 events and at 33 was unlikely to improve on that record against a man 39 places above him in the rankings.
As it was Henman broke the Dane’s serve as early as the second game and although the pair swapped service breaks in the sixth and seventh games, Henman restored his superiority, setting the tone by capturing the first set.
In the second Carlsen dumped a backhand into the net in the seventh game to give Henman the vital break of serve.
With Henman beginning to manoeuvre the Dane around Court One at will it was easy to see why Carlsen had not won a match at Roland Garros since 1995.
The third saw the best tennis of the match, with both continuing to play in attacking fashion – but Henman then had one of those aberrations of mind which have so afflicted his career.
It arrived in the 10th game when suddenly he abandoned the aggression which had taken him thus far and, while he saved one set point, he tamely dumped an easy forehand into the net to hand the Dane an unlikely foothold in the match.
Fortunately, Carlsen gifted Henman the easiest of breaks in the third game of the fourth set when he allowed a floated backhand to pass only to see it catch the baseline.
With Roland Garros starting on a Sunday for the first time with just 12 matches it means Henman now has two days to prepare for a second round meeting against either Dmitry Tursinov of Russia, the number 31 seed and the man who has halted his progress at two of the last three major tournaments, or Jiri Novak.
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