Same old story for injured Henman

TENNIS/US Open: It was the same old story, except that on this occasion Tim Henman, who like Greg Rusedski failed to get beyond the last 32 of the US Open in New York for the third successive year, had a perfectly legitimate excuse.

It was clear from the start of the tournament that Henman's right shoulder would not hold up very long to the strain of five-set matches, not that he had any. In the final few games of his third-round match against Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, who beat him 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, Henman served at virtually half power and, just before receiving serve, he held his racket in his left hand and let his right arm swing loose as he attempted to ease the ache.

It was impossible not to feel sympathy, though whether Henman was sensible to risk further damage only time will tell. And time, at least as far as Britain's Davis Cup chances are concerned, is now at a premium.

Provided Henman and Rusedski, who lost in five sets against Pete Sampras, are fit, then Britain should win the home tie in Birmingham against Thailand on September 20th-22nd reasonably comfortably. But, if either is absent, and Henman's participation is now obviously in doubt, then Thailand, led by the highly gifted Paradorn Srichaphan, may spring a surprise and ruin Britain's hopes of staying in the elite world group next year.

Henman has little more than a fortnight to get matters right and will consult Britain's Davis Cup physio Mark Bender as soon as he gets back to London. "I've a lot of faith in him," said Henman.,

However, he admitted that playing in the Davis Cup would "be a risk".

"I was optimistic at the start. I was able to bluff my way through my first two matches but right now my shoulder is a pretty big concern."

Rusedski, whose match against Sampras spanned two days, laid the blame squarely at his own door for the 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 defeat, notably when he squandered a 5-3 lead in the first set on Sunday. There has never been much love lost between Rusedski and Sampras, the latter now holding a 9-1 head-to-head lead, and Rusedski made it plain that he believed Sampras's great days were all in the past. "He's still a good player, no question about it, but not a great player."

This much has been obvious to all but Sampras for the past two years, but for Rusedski to say it at this juncture sounded too much like sour grapes. More pertinently, Rusedski has now gone 18 grand slam events since finishing runner-up to Rafter here in 1997 without progressing beyond the fourth round and his post-match talk of still "winning a slam" rang hollow.

He will be 29 on Friday and the chances of any player winning a slam for the first time at this age are decidedly remote.

Venus Williams is through to the women's singles quarter-finals but only after being given an almighty scare by compatriot Chanda Rubin. The match was supposed to be a formality for Williams, who had won seven of their previous eight meetings, but Rubin took the two-time defending champion to the brink of defeat before finally succumbing 6-2 4-6 7-5.

In front of an appreciative New York audience the two Americans put on a wonderful spectacle. Rubin promised to attack and she was true to her word. Although the first set was little more than a procession as the second seed romped through it in 24 minutes, the second provided great entertainment.

Rubin stormed out into a 5-2 lead with an intelligent mix of chip and charge and powerful baseline groundstrokes. Williams flexed her muscles to reduce the deficit to 5-4 but Rubin, seeded 14 at Flushing Meadows, held her nerve and her serve to take it in 43 minutes.

The final set started with a flurry of breaks before Williams held and established a crucial lead. But Rubin came back and levelled it at 4-4. The underdog held two break points at 5-5 but was unable to convert the opportunities and her chance of victory came and went in that moment.

Williams held, came out in the next game and broke herself to claim a thrilling match in one hour 53 minutes.

In the next round Williams will play Monica Seles, who beat an out-of-sorts Martina Hingis with relative ease 6-4 6-2. Seles, seeded six, was always in control against the Swiss star who still seemed well short of full fitness after missing the French Open and Wimbledon because of ankle problems.

And, despite some nervy moments in the final game, Seles duly wrapped up the match in one hour and one minute.

Venus Williams serves to compatriot Chanda Rubin during their match at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, yesterday.