Henman crashes out of French Open

14 April 2012

British number one Tim Henman today crashed out of the French Open in the second round.

Henman, a shock semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, was beaten 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-4 by Peru's Luis Horna in Paris.

The 30-year-old squandered a 3-1 lead in the opening set and quickly found himself in trouble at the start of the second, losing his serve in the opening game after a long rally was ended by a winner from Horna.

But the world number eight hit straight back to level the scores and broke again to surge into a 4-2 lead.

He looked to have the set in his pocket when he served for it at 5-3, but Horna was proving a tenacious opponent and broke Henman's serve once more to get back on level terms.

The tie-break was a one-sided affair however, Henman racing into a 5-1 lead before taking it 7-2 to level the match.
Horna regained control of match in the third set by breaking Henman to take a 3-0 lead.

The seventh seed was becoming visibly frustrated and had to save three break points in the sixth game to avoid going 5-1 behind.
That only delayed the inevitable however and Horna eventually served out to take the set 6-3 with another forehand winner.

Henman had twice come from two sets to love down during his superb run 12 months ago but there was no chance of such a comeback this time as Horna again gained the upper hand in the fourth set.

Another break of serve took Horna to the verge of victory and Henman's woeful day was summed up when he fired a forehand long on match point.

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