Tennis: Henman I did not deserve to win

Number nine seed Tim Henman crashed out of the Masters Series Ericsson Open in three sets 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 to Fabrice Santoro of France and admitted that he got his just deserts for a poor performance.

Although the British number one took the opening set, he never looked comfortable from then on, failing to make the most of his break-point chances which allowed Santoro to grow in confidence to secure victory.

‘‘He certainly played well and deserved to win it,’’ Henman said. ‘‘The way he played, his consistency, he deserved to win.

‘‘I wouldn’t say I’m pleased right now, but it’s something you have to deal with. I played a bad tie-break, there’s no question.’’

Another seed to crash out was US Open champion Marat Safin who lost his opening match to Spaniard Juan Balcells 4-6 6-4 6-3.

The Russian number two seed was suffering from a back injury and claimed he was forced to play against his wishes by the ATP rules.

‘‘You have to play all the Masters Series otherwise you have no points. So that’s why I am playing,’’ said Safin. ‘‘Now I will go back to Europe and try to get some treatment because it can’t go on like this.’’

On the women’s side, third seed American Venus Williams cruised past Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands 6-2 6-0.

Williams wore a bandage on her right knee, but appeared unaffected by tendinitis which was the reason given for her forfeit to younger sister Serena in the semi-finals at Indian Wells a week ago.

‘‘My knee felt much better,’’ the elder Williams said. ‘‘Fortunately, I didn’t have to run too hard or run too fast.’’