Henmanmisses Cup tie

Tennis

Illness has caused Tim Henman to withdraw from Britain's Davis Cup team to play Slovenia in the Euro/African Zone Group II tie at Newcastle, which starts tomorrow. Bristol's Nick Gould takes his place.

Henman, who last weekend returned from a tour of India, Japan and Korea, has been advised by his doctor to rest for two weeks and take medication. "I haven't been feeling a 100 per cent for the last three weeks, and it has finally caught up with me," Henman said. "Naturally I am bitterly disappointed to be missing out.''

On Monday, Henman, the 21-year-old national champion, overtook his team- mate Greg Rusedski by four places in the world rankings, rising to No 54. Last week he was a semi-finalist in the Seoul tournament.

David Lloyd, Britain's captain, said: "It's a blow when any team loses a player of Tim's calibre and I was very sorry when he called to tell me the news. We shall miss him and I hope he gets fit soon. We've still got to a job here and I am confident that the boys will want to give their best for Tim and Great Britain.''