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Henman runs out of French Open magic
Tim Henman failed to repeat his magical run to last year's French Open semi-finals when he was bundled out by Peru's Luis Horna.
Tim Henman failed to repeat his magical run to last year's French Open semi-finals when he was bundled out of this year's Roland Garros tournament 7-5, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 at the hands of Peru's Luis Horna in the second round on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old seventh-seed, who became the first British man to make the semi-finals here in 41 years when he served-and-volleyed his way to the last four in 2004, had no answer to Horna's powerful baseline hitting.
While Horna now faces Romania's Victor Hanescu for a place in the fourth round, Henman will have to turn his attention to the grasscourt season and his lifetime pursuit of the Wimbledon title.
To compound's Henman's misery, he was handed a warning for swearing by the umpire in the third set as he became increasingly frustrated by the constant movement and noise made by spectators on Court One.
"It's frustrating when that happens," said Henman.
"I can't defend what I said. The umpire said he was being consistent but it seems it's different when it happens in other languages."
The British number one also said that he was bothered by a back problem.
"There was some stiffness in the back. There is a little degeneration there. I would like to think it won't be a problem and I don't think it had any bearing on the match.
"He played very aggressively with a big margin for error. That's his style, it's effective on clay and he dominated with his forehand."
Henman's defeat also ended British interest in the second Grand Slam tournament of the season after Greg Rusedski was knocked out in the first round on Tuesday by Brazilian qualifier Flavio Saretta 6-2, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.
Henman had looked the sharper player in the early exchanges but 24-year-old Horna, ranked 59 in the world, and who knocked out Roger Federer in the first round here two years ago, eventually stamped his authority on the match.
He carved out a crucial break in the fifth game of the fourth set and then took the tie after 3hr 10 mins when Henman hit a service return long.
