Tennis: Henman checked by Goellner

Tim Henman made a limp exit from the Lyon Grand Prix last night, losing 6-3, 6-4 in barely an hour to Germany's Marc-Kevin Goellner.

The British No 2, seeded eighth and ranked 19 in the world, said: "I didn't serve as well as usual and I lost two of my service games on double- faults."

Goellner, ranked well below Henman at 61 in the world, served superbly throughout, and wrapped up the opening set with ease with a break in the sixth game before breaking again for 2-1 in the second set. Henman was never able to recover the break.

It was a bitter blow for Henman, who reached the semi-finals here last year and had fully expected at least to repeat that showing this time round instead of failing even to reach the quarter-finals. Two week ago in Basle he had defeated Goellner comfortably.

As a result of this disappointing performance his world ranking will almost certainly fall.