Henman tames conditions and breezes past Melzer

The British No 1 Tim Henman overcame difficult conditions in the Pacific Life Open to move into the fourth round of the ATP Masters Series at Indian Wells, California, yesterday.

In unusually blustery conditions Henman saw off the Austrian youngster Jurgen Melzer in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to set up a tie with Tommy Robredo.

"It was about who could stay positive and not get frustrated and I felt I did that well," Henman, 30, said. "It was really difficult conditions out there, which is not what you expect at Indian Wells, there's usually no wind and it was really blowy which made it hard.

"With these conditions you have to accept you're going to mess a few shots up. But to finish it off as well as I did bodes well for the next round."

In the women's game, Amelie Mauresmo's attempt to regain the world No 1 ranking took a knock when she lost 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 to Russian teenager Evgenia Linetskaya in the third round.

Linetskaya saved a match point at 4-5 down in the third set when the second seed from France put a forehand volley wide. Mauresmo double-faulted to allow the Russian to break serve and lead 6-5. Linetskaya clinched victory with a volley.

The 2003 champion Kim Clijsters looked impressive in her comeback from wrist surgery, defeating the Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-1, 7-6.