Henman puts heat on Pioline

Tennis

Tennis

Tim Henman survived the heat and two tie-breakers to beat Cedric Pioline, the 16th seed, in the opening round of the RCA Championships in Indianapolis.

Henman, ranked 150th in the world, took two hours and 34 minutes to win 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 but his compatriot Jeremy Bates went down 6-3, 7-5 to another Frenchman, Jerome Golmard.

"It was unbelievably hot out there. I was trying to conserve energy as much as possible," Henman said. "Once I got my chances, I was able to take advantage of them."

Kimberly Po, of the United States, beat Australia's Rennae Stubbs 6-4, 6-1 in the Canadian Open to advance to a second-round match with Monica Seles, who is making her first tournament appearance since she was stabbed in Germany in 1993.

Po lost in qualifying on Sunday, but entered the main draw when the ninth seed, Mary Jo Fernandez, withdrew because of a stomach ailment.