Struggling Henman scrapes into second round

HOME crowd favourite Tim Henman rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 on the second day of the Wimbledon tournament yesterday.

The sixth-seeded Henman, who improved to 41-11 lifetime here, has reached at least the quarter-finals eight times in the last nine years.

“It was touch and go for a long time,” Henman said. “First two sets I was really struggling with my form. Then I got flat physically, really struggling to get some energy into the match, and the crowd probably the same. But you’ve got to keep fighting and play with what you have on the day.