Henman out but not down

Tim Henman believes he can still achieve this year’s aim of rising back up the world rankings despite an early exit at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells.

The British number two earned a pile of ranking points when reaching the quarter-finals of this Masters Series tournament 12 months ago and also made the last eight in Miami soon after.

Last night’s 6-4 6-4 second-round loss to Czech Tomas Berdych means Henman is set to slip out of the world’s top 50 but he remains optimistic of a future resurgence.

The 31-year-old said: “If my ranking does drop, as it will after this fortnight, it’s not something that is going to send me into a great deal of panic.

“I know if I stay healthy, I think there will come a stage where it’s going to start turning around because my ranking is made up of a couple of months, basically.

“From Wimbledon until the end of Australia, there’s no tennis (last year) really. I’ve got to keep building and I will keep building.

“In terms of where I’m at, it’s disappointing to lose. I want to be winning to start getting my ranking back up.

“But there’s a lot more tennis to be played, put it that way, and if I’m feeling like this, moving like that, then I’ve got a chance.”