Australian Open: I handled big match poorly - Henman
Tim Henman was left searching for an answer after coming off a poor second to Pat Rafter in the Australian Open.
Rafter kept the home flag flying at the first Grand Slam of the year with a thoroughly convincing 6-2 6-3 6-3 fourth-round victory.
And Britain's number one admitted he would be trying to turn negatives into positives after the match.
"There's probably a lot of very good lessons to be learned from this," said Henman, conceding that he was out-played virtually from first to last.
"But it won't be pretty to watch. He stamped his authority on the match and I handled the situation pretty poorly."
Henman must have felt like ripping up the tactics he tried against Rafter, seeded 12th against Henman's eighth. None of them worked.
"I give Pat credit, a lot of credit, for the way he played and that was, no question, the best he's played against me (they had two wins each before the match), but it's much easier when you're always in front," said Henman.
"He was probably under the pressure for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Beyond that I could never express myself with my play or my actions.
"You want to try to find all sorts of different variations to your game and to try to stem the tide and upset his rhythm, but I could never build any momentum.
"I was trying to do everything I can, but when nothing's really happening for you and you're not creating any chances then it's difficult to know where to turn.
"In big-match conditions away from home I was lacking."
The 26-year-old has still to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final other than Wimbledon.
