Henman crashes out

TIM HENMAN crashed out of the Masters Series event in Rome yesterday after Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta stormed back from a set down to seal his place in the quarter-finals.

Zabaleta won 3-6 6-3 6-2 to advance to a last eight meeting at the Foro Italico with either Nicolas Massu or Marat Safin.

Henman has shown some fine form on clay this season and he looked particularly assured during his 6-1 6-1 demolition of Radek Stepanek on Wednesday. Just like he did against the Czech, Henman broke on his first opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in the first set.