Henman eases past Cakl

Tim Henman is on course for a quarter-final against world number one Roger Federer at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam after disposing of the Czech Republic’s Tomas Cakl.

The second round tie was a step into the unknown for the British number one - seeded fifth – who had never met his opponent before.

But Henman had little difficulty as he moved into the last eight – where he will face the winner of Federer’s match against Andrei Pavel – with a 6-2 6-4 victory.

Cakl, 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 yesterday the 22-year-old defeated Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 7-6 7-6 to set up a clash with Henman.

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 Henman 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 saved four break points to win the set.

The first four games of the second went with serve but Henman had victory in his sights when he broke Cakl to take a 3-2 lead.

The Czech held his own after that until, with the score at 5-3, he allowed his opponent to take a 40-15 lead before salvaging the game.

That still allowed Henman to serve for the match and the British number one was rarely troubled as he clinched his quarter-final place.