Tursunov too hot for foul Tim

TIM HENMAN apologised for a foul-mouthed outburst after his worst Wimbledon performance for a decade yesterday.

Henman, who recovered from two sets down in round one, saved two match points before losing an epic five-set battle with Russian Dmitry Tursunov on Centre Court.

It was the British number one’s earliest exit from the championships since his second appearance at the All England Club in 1995.

The sixth seed’s frustration with his own performance and a number of bad line calls boiled over as he slumped to a 6-3 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-8 defeat to the world number 152.

“If I said some bad words, I apologise,” the sixth seed said after being told the BBC had apologised to viewers.

“These things happen in the spur of the moment when you’re out there competing, wanting to get fired up.”

Henman never looked in total control against a player reproducing the form which saw him beat two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin in the first round last year.

Tursunov was on the verge of victory in the final set at 40-15 until Henman won the next four points in a row to seemingly stave off defeat, but after both players held serve, Tursunov broke again for a 7-6 advantage.

This time he held his nerve and closed out a famous, and thoroughly deserved, victory, with an ace.

There was some good news for the British crowd when young Scot Andy Murray had the saltires fluttering and the fans hollering on Court One as he dispatched number 14 seed Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4 6-4 to take his place in the third round.

French Open champion Rafael Nadal was dumped out in the second round by debutant Gilles Muller.

The 19-year-old was seeded number four following his triumph in Paris, but found former Junior Wimbledon finalist Muller just too strong.

Nadal failed to convert several break-point chances before losing the opening set 6-4.

He improved somewhat, particularly when coming to the net, to take the second set 6-4, but he had no answer to the combinations of the 69th-ranked Luxembourg player as a double fault handed Muller the third set 6-3.

The 22-year-old broke Nadal again in game five of the fourth set and despite Nadal holding his next two service games, he could not prevent Muller from clinching the set 6-4 to take the match.

French number nine seed Sebastien Grosjean took his place in the last 32 with a straight-sets win over Victor Hanescu of Romania.

Number two seed Andy Roddick will have to resume today against Italian Daniele Bracciali after bad light called an end to his match on Centre Court, with the American leading by two sets to one.

In the women’s event, defending champion Maria Sharapova ruthlessly dispatched Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva 6-0 6-1 to reach the third round.

Such was the extent of the Russian star’s dominance she allowed her 15-year-old opponent only four points throughout a second set which lasted all of 19 minutes.

Meanwhile Venus Williams was a straight-sets winner over Nicole Pratt.

The flamboyant American, a winner in 2000 and 2001, was a worthy if not always comfortable victor.

The first set was a tense affair, with the 14th seed finally prevailing 7-5, before going through the gears in the next to close out a 7-5 6-3 win.

Sister Serena recovered from losing the opening set to avoid becoming another top seed to suffer a shock defeat when she beat Italian qualifier Mara Santangelo 2-6 6-3 6-2.

Daniela Hantuchova is also into the third round after coming through against Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-2 2-6 6-3.

Elena Daniilidou, the shock first-round conqueror of French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, had an easier time of it as she proved that win was no flash in the pan with a 6-2 6-0 success against American Laura Granville.

French Open champion and 12th seed Mary Pierce survived a match point in the second set before edging past Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko 4-6 7-6 9-7, while Jane O’Donoghue, Britain’s sole survivor in the women’s singles, was well beaten 6-2 6-1 by 16th seed Nathalie Dechy.