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HENMAN BATTLES BACK TO WIN |
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3/2/2006 8:59:00 AM |
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 Tim Henman battled back from a break down in the final set to clinch an impressive win over the in-form Radek Stepanek and reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Men's Open.
Henman's 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-3) victory earned him a clash with world number two Rafael Nadal in the last eight, and provided him with an invaluable psychological boost after a difficult start to the year.
With Stepanek serving for the match at 5-3 in the final set, Henman reeled off four consecutive winners to break back in spectacular fashion.
He then kept his composure to take the match into a final set tie-break, which he took 7-3 after a Stepanek backhand drifted long.
The opening six games of the match had gone with serve, but Stepanek was furious at 30-30 in game seven, when a forehand passing shot appeared to clip the line only to
be called out by the umpire.
Henman eventually held, but was under severe pressure when serving to stay in the set.
A tentative backhand invited Stepanek to complete a straightforward passing shot which gave him a first set point.
But Stepanek was unable to take advantage, and after two further set points were saved Henman visibly grew in confidence.
With Stepanek serving at 5-5, Henman broke to love with a glorious backhand passing shot down the line.
He then served out the set with some assurance, using his favoured sliced backhand to approach the net and volleying solidly.
Stepanek, who won his maiden ATP singles title in Rotterdam last month, took charge of the second set when a long Henman forehand gave him an opportunity to break.
At break point down, Henman followed his first serve into the net, but appeared to leave a Stepanek lob which dropped two feet inside the baseline, giving the Czech a 3-1 lead.
A fired-up Stepanek then broke again to take the second set, when a Henman forehand found the net.
It was the backhand which let Henman down next, when a desperately poor attempt at a passing shot found the bottom of the net to give Stepanek a 3-1 lead in the decider.
Stepanek then had his first chance to serve for the match at 5-3, but Henman found his best tennis when he needed it most.
With a vocal expatriate crowd behind him, Henman grabbed his first break point with a blocked backhand return down the line.
At 3-1 down in the tie-break, Henman then won the next six points to complete a surprise victory over the world number 16.
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