British prodigies expose their feet of clay

Few had expected Greg Rusedski or Tim Henman to make much of an impact at the French Open, but the opening day at Roland Garros proved nothing short of disastrous for the British pair. By mid-afternoon their challenge was over. Rusedski was first to go, losing in straight sets to the one-dimensional Belgian Johan Van Herck, who cruelly exposed the British number one's long-standing inability to get to grips with red clay.

This placed the onus on Henman. However after receiving lengthy treatment for a recurring back spasm when trailing 5-2 in the opening set against Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, the British number two was forced to retire one point later.

Rusedski also received treatment during his match for a minor twinge, so within the space of four hours came the sight of Britain's two leading players lying prone on the court, their faces pressed in the dirt. It was a potent image of the country's continuing lack of success on clay.

Rusedski had begun the day ranked number four in the world, after climbing above Australia's Pat Rafter without having to do anything (such are the Byzantine vagaries of the system) but his number five seeding here was not about to fool anybody, least of all Van Herck, who by dint of this win may now have become the 11th most famous Belgian ever.

"The main idea was to push Greg to the back of the court and keep him there," said Van Herck, who is 24 years old, ranked 96 and has never won a senior tournament. However Van Herck grew up on clay and knew exactly how to handle Rusedski, who since beginning his clay-court season in Monte Carlo last month has only managed one win in six matches.

Henman's problems began on Sunday when he was practising with Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the champion here two years ago. "I made a sudden movement to my left to hit a backhand and immediately had pain in my back."

After treatment that night Henman, who has never suffered from back problems before, practised for half an hour before his match against Sargsian, but it quickly began to stiffen up.

For the knock-up it was fine, but when he came to the net and had to move suddenly during the first set the searing pain in the middle of his back returned. "It's almost like it knocks the breath out of you."

Bill Norris, the ATP Tour physio, attempted to ease the problem by manipulation but Henman, after one serve which he won, was forced to concede with a grimace: "I feel pretty sick about it."

Rusedski, who lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, will now take a wild card for Nottingham, where he won the title last year. In his new shorter shorts, and shorter haircut, he had begun confidently against Van Herck, engineering an immediate break-point, which he missed, before claiming a second in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead.

But Van Herck countered instantly and thereafter Rusedski's serve was never secure, the Belgian passing him on both sides, with Rusedski frequently resembling a passenger arriving at the station the exact moment the train pulls out.

Thomas Muster displayed some of his old clay-court flair in his 63, 6-3, 6-3 defeat of the number seven seed Jonas Bjorkman.

There were straightforward wins for the two number one seeds. Pete Sampras defeated fellow American Todd Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and Switzerland's Martina Hingis beat Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-2, 6-1.

Nothing was straightforward for the Britons, unless one counts the direct route home.