Henman succeeds at tying himself in knots

Shaolin Kung fu masters, aged from eight to 82, performed incredible feats of control and contortion at the ATP Tour awards gala on Tuesday night here, not that Tim Henman needs lessons in tying himself in knots.

The British No 1, who was unable to convert any of four match points against Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals of the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne last month, yesterday failed to secure a winning position in the second round of the Monte Carlo Open against Juan Ignacio Chela, an Argentinian qualifier whose name is likely to have more of a ring in the future.

Henman's last swing of his racket sent its head thudding into the outside of his right shoe in frustration as Chela celebrated victory, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. To Henman's annoyance, the match ended in anticlimax after he had lifted himself above the despair of being outclassed for a set and a half by a 20-year-old whose game is made for slow clay courts.

Chela does not look threatening. He is skinny and serves with a truncated action, barely taking the racket over his shoulder before making the forward swing. There is not much wrong with his timing, however, judging by the power and accuracy of the delivery. And once the ball is in play, he is capable of keeping opponents on the back foot with deep, angled groundstrokes.

Henman, seeded No 7, made history of sorts on Tuesday by becoming the first Briton to win a men's singles match at the Monte Carlo Open for 19 years, defeating the eccentric Marc Rosset, of Switzerland, in straight sets (Buster Mottram beat Heinz Gunthardt, another Swiss, in 1981).

While not wishing to be greedy, there were hopes that Henman would at least take another step forward and advance to test his improved form on clay against the adept Spaniard Alex Corretja in the third round. But the omens were not promising. Chela won his first ATP Tour title on the clay courts of Mexico City in February, defeating Gustavo Kuerten in the second round.

Chela attacked Henman from the start, forcing two break points in each of the Briton's first two service games and then breaking for 4-2. The Argentinian broke again, this time to love, to take the set in the eighth game.

Having avoided offering Chela further opportunities in his first two service games in the second set, Henman double-faulted to be broken for 2-4. At that point Chela seemed assured of a comfortable victory, but he was unnerved when Henman broke back for 3-4, winning an exhilarating rally with a forehand drive at 15-15 and cracking another forehand to the corner to convert the second break point.

That was the start of Henman's winning run of seven of eight games to lead 3-1 in the final set, by which time Chela was showing clear signs of distress, hitting the ground with his racket after every perceived misfortune. The crux of the contest came in the fifth game, when Henman held a break point for 4-1, only to hit a cross-court backhand wide. Chela was not profligate with an opportunity to level for 3-3, hitting a backhand drive which Henman intercepted but could not control, playing a forehandvolley over the baseline.

Henman netted a forehand approach to be broken for 3-5, and Chela had to save four break points before serving out the match after two hours, leaving Henman to the defence of the doubles title he won last year with France's Olivier Delaitre.

"There was no doubt I should have won the match," Henman said, acknowledging that he scarcely got a look-in until he was trailing by a set and 2-4. "I felt he was obviously dominating things to begin with, but in one instance it turned around very quickly for me. Then I get the break point at 3-1 and miss a passing shot by just a little bit. But then that is where I have got to make sure that it doesn't turn around for his advantage, and that is the frustrating aspect."

Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, favourite for the title in the absence of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, joined the departing seeds yesterday. Kafelnikov was defeated by Dominik Hrbaty, of Slovakia, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. That left only Cedric Pioline (No 8), Corretja (No 9) and Albert Costa (No 12) of the 16 seeds who started the tournament. Yet there is still Richard Krajicek among the unseeded contenders. The Dutch former Wimbledon champion defeated Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, 7-5, 6-1, and will play Albert Costa in the third round.

* Andre Agassi has been named as the 1999 ATP Tour Player of the Year, ending the six-year reign of Pete Sampras. The 29-year-old was honoured at the Tour's annual awards gala at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo on Tuesday.