Henman continues Swiss love affair

Tim Henman will be looking to continue his love affair with the Davidoff Swiss indoor event in Basel when he takes on Italian Andrea Gaudenzi for a place in the quarter-finals later this week.

Henman beat Andre Agassi to win the tournament three years ago. He was runner-up in 1999 and reached the semi-finals last season.

The British No 1, seeded two, looked in good shape for another crack at the title when he cruised through his first-round match against Frenchman Anthony Dupuis, winning 6-4, 6-1.

"This tournament has been very good to me over the years and it's a good start," he said. "The first eight games were very tight. To get the first set under my belt gave me a lot of confidence."

Gaudenzi, who has won two titles this year, looked impressive in his 7-6, 6-3 defeat of rising Spanish star Tommy Robredo. Also through to the second round is Swiss favourite Michel Kratochvil, who recovered from a set and a break down to win 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 against Albert Portas.

Kratochvil now plays fifth seed Arnaud Clement, the Frenchman who recorded a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Gaston Gaudio.

There were also firstround wins for Carlos Moya, French qualifier Nicolas Thomann and Nikolay Davydenko.