Henman sets up Rusedski match

Tim Henman set up a second round showdown with Greg Rusedski after seeing off the challenge of Lars Burgsmuller at the Hamburg Masters.

Tim Henman set up a second round showdown with Greg Rusedski after seeing off the challenge of Lars Burgsmuller at the Hamburg Masters.

The British number one cruised to a 6-3 6-4 win over his out-classed German opponent in the first round tie, and he will now face his long-time rival on Wednesday for a place in the third round.

Henman never reached top gear in cold, damp conditions, but he always looked in control of the match - winning the majority of baseline encounters and looking at home on the clay surface.

Henman's service game was impressive throughout, hitting a high percentage of first serves in, and rarely looking troubled on his second.

Burgsmuller by contrast never threatened to break Henman's serve, and looked constantly under pressure on his own service game. Henman broke Burgsmuller's serve in the fourth game of the first set and went on to hold his own serve and win the set in just 35 minutes.

The only thing that seemed likely to derail Henman was his own concentration, as he had a number of disputes with the umpire over close line calls and needed to remind the ball-boys to keep still during passages of play.

Once Burgsmuller had his serve broken in the first game of the second set, the outcome was never in serious doubt, although the German kept on battling - saving six break points in the fifth game of the set.

Henman was made to work increasingly hard in the last three games, but he maintained his composure and secured a relatively comfortable win.

Henman was pleased with his performance in difficult conditions, saying "I felt the conditions were really tough. You've got to be positive in your mind, not let things upset you too much."

Henman said of the second set: "He's still hanging in there and a break on clay is good, but you'd like to make it a double break. "I kept concentrating really well and I'm pleased to get the job done."

Henman is clearly relishing the prospect of facing Rusedski in the next round: "It always adds some extra spice when I play against Greg, but I feel confident and I have been playing some really good tennis," he added.

Rusedski made his way into the second round with his first ATP Tour victory on clay in the best part of four years, overcoming the challenge of German wildcard Philipp Petzschner in three sets, winning 7-6 3-6 6-3.

Rusedski started well in cold conditions, taking the first set on a tie-break before stumbling in the second. A rain break interrupted Petzschner's momentum, however, and Rusedski took full advantage to seal the win.

It was Rusedski's first win on clay since the 2001 French Open, and he is clearly delighted by his victory, saying: "I would definitely like to play Tim again, I had two match points last time and should have won. It should be a great match."