Henman happy with winning return

Tim Henman could not hide his relief after advancing to round two of the indoor BA-CA Trophy in Vienna by beating Frenchman Antony Dupuis in straight sets.

Henman, a wild-card entry, booked his place in the last 16 with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

It was the British number one’s first match since the US Open in August, having been plagued by a back injury which kept him out of action.

“It’s never easy trying to play well when you haven’t competed for such a long time,” Henman told his personal website, www.timhenman.org.

“I was very pleased with the way I played throughout most of the match. More importantly, I felt great physically.

“The next 24 hours are still going to be very important – I need my back to react well – but all the signs are very positive.

“I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match as I didn’t really know whether I was going to feel anything in my back or how I was going to play.

“But fortunately I started hitting the ball out of the centre of the racket and my back felt great.”