Henman scrapes through

OLYMPIC GAMES TENNIS

Tim Henman lifted the hearts of Britain's Olympic troops as he reached the second round of the men's singles yesterday.

Henman, Britain's first Wimbledon men's singles quarter- finalist since 1973, looked in real trouble during a tense and error-strewn first set against Japan's Shuzo Matsuoka at Stone Mountain.

The 300-plus Union Jack-waving British fans, desperate for something to cheer after three days to forget, watched anxiously as the 21-year- old Henman baked in the searing 100F heat and struggled to get his game together.

Drama became crisis when Henman's second serve on set point against him at 5-6 appeared to be out. It was called by the line judge, but he immediately corrected himself which meant Henman had first serve again.

And the Oxfordshire man, now at his best ever world ranking of No 37, took advantage to win the point and hold serve before taking the tie- break and 11 successive points at the start of the second set on his way to a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win in 1hr 22min.

"The first set was crucial and, while I'm not saying it was the turning point, it was certainly a big one," Henman said.