Henman has upper hand

Tim Henman moved a step closer to a quarter-final against world number one Roger Federer at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam after winning the first set of his second round tie with the Czech Republic’s Tomas Cakl.

Although the match was a step into the unknown for the fifth seed, who had never met his Czech opponent before, Henman claimed the upper hand as he took the first set 6-2.

The 22-year-old world number 213 won two matches over the weekend in the qualifying event to earn his place in the main draw.

In the first round on yesterday he defeated Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 7-6 7-6 to set up a clash with the British number one.

But Henman showed no hesitation as he won the first three points of the match against serve before securing a break in the first game.

The next game went with serve as the Briton took advantage of Cakl’s early nerves but the Czech found his feet as he took the third without conceding a point.

Henman won on his serve and broke his opponent again to storm into a 4-1 lead and he appeared to be on course to serve out the set.

However, Cakl threatened to break back as he took a 40-0 lead with the score at 5-2. Henman was able to save four break points and win the set.