Tennis: Henman cruises past first round

Tim Henman coasted through his first-round match as two other seeded players crashed out of the CA Trophy indoor event in Vienna.

Henman won 12 of the final 13 games in a 6-4 6-0 rout of South African Wayne Ferreira.

British number one Henman defeated the veteran Ferreira for the second time this year he won their semi-final tussle at the Queen’s Club tournament.

Henman said: ‘‘He got off to the better start, but I didn’t panic. Wayne is still playing top-15 tennis. I have so many good memories from last year here in Vienna.’’

With the Tennis Masters Cup at Sydney beginning on November 12, Henman, who is ninth in the ATP Champions Race, has an added incentive to defend his title.

‘‘It’s certainly a goal of mine,’’ he added. ‘‘I’m going to trust my game for the next four weeks. I have some of my best results indoors.’’

In the second round, Henman will face Argentine Guillermo Canas, who edged out Russian qualifier Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (8/6) 7-5.

Meanwhile, Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden rallied to upset number three seed Alex Corretja of Spain 3-6 6-1 6-4, and local qualifier Jurgen Melzer battled back to triumph over France’s Fabrice Santoro, the seventh seed, 6-7 (8/10) 6-4 6-4.

In another upset, Spain’s Alberto Martin battled back to defeat Mark Philippoussis 3-6 6-3 6-1. But the Australian was simply pleased to be back on a court after enduring another operation on his knee.

‘‘The number one priority for me is to get through this year healthy,’’ the 1998 US Open finalist said. ‘‘After my third knee surgery, some doctors told me, ‘You’re never gonna play tennis again.’ I want to prove them wrong.’’