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Grass is greener Henman suffers another third-round exit in Paris
PARIS (Reuters) -- The green, green grass of home beckons for Tim Henman after the Briton slumped out of the French Open in five sets at the third-round stage for the third straight year. Henman's Roland Garros jinx struck again when he succumbed 4-6 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-5 on Friday to athletic Argentine baseliner Guillermo Canas, and he can now begin his grasscourt preparations for Wimbledon. Henman, who has never reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, lost to Spaniards in the past two years and he endured a third Latin lesson on Court Suzanne Lenglen against the world No. 82 from Buenos Aires. "It's a tough one," the 11th seed said. "The third round for the third consecutive year, that's disappointing." Henman, who is currently without a coach, said he didn't know why he kept losing five-setters on clay. "It's certainly not fitness or lack of effort," he said. But the 26-year-old, who has enjoyed most of his Grand Slam success at Wimbledon, believes the past week has been excellent preparation for his All England Club bid starting later this month. "With the amount I've played in the last 10 days it's important to get good preparation under your belt for the grasscourt season," said the British No. 1, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 1998 and 1999. "Making a big effort on clay is very worthwhile for me. You have to hit so many balls it tests every aspect of your game. "Grass is a surface that has obviously treated me pretty well over the years and I'm looking forward to it." After winning the first set, Henman was plagued by forehand errors. He raised his game to force the deciding fifth set and it went with serve until the Briton, who had missed a chance to break at 5-5, cracked decisively when serving at 5-6 down. A wild Henman smash gave Canas match point and the Argentine produced a fine forehand service return winner to seal his victory in just under three and a half hours. Canas will face Australian sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt in the last 16. "I'm very, very happy but before the match I knew I could win it," said the 23-year-old, whose previous best performance at Roland Garros was reaching the second round in 1999. "I'm playing very well and so I thought I had the chance to have a very good tournament," he added. "Anything can happen from now on."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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