Henman puts Chang in shade

Tim Henman came out of the darkness to knock Michael Chang out of the Salem Open quarter-finals in Hong Kong. The British No 1 struggled through the longest match of the week at nearly two-and-a-half hours, to defeat the three-times champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Tim Henman came out of the darkness to knock Michael Chang out of the Salem Open quarter-finals in Hong Kong. The British No 1 struggled through the longest match of the week at nearly two-and-a-half hours, to defeat the three-times champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Henman admitted he had put in an inconsistent performance against the American, but claimed he had not been helped by the lights at Victoria Park. "The standard was up and down," said the second seed. "I had some problems with various aspects of my game and some problems with the lights. There are definitely some dark patches out on that court."

Henman, who served nine aces but seven double-faults in two hours, 27 minutes, conceded: "I kept creating opportunities, getting in front with a break and then failing to capitalise."

A frustrated Henman received a ball abuse warning at the end of the second set, and said that overcoming Chang, the crowd favourite, had taken a lot of effort. "He's a great player who knows how to win here, he's done it three times. I knew I couldn't beat him in rallies from the baseline. If you are not into your shots, the ball can fly on you and you can make unforced errors."

Henman now faces the German third seed Nicolas Kiefer, who overcame Nicolas Lapentti, of Ecuador, 6-2, 6-4.

In Germany, the top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland, swept to the semi-finals of the Filderstadt Grand Prix with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the Belgian Dominique van Roost. She now faces Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, of Spain, who beat Amanda Coetzer, of South Africa, 6-2,2-6, 6-3.

Lindsay Davenport will play at the SwissCom challenge next week in place of the Olympic champion, Venus Williams, who has been advised by her doctor to take a break from tennis.