Rusedski churlish in defeat as injury undoes Henman

The truth not only hurts, but can also rebound on the person who tells it. Such was the case at the United States Open here on Monday night when Greg Rusedski took cheap shots at the 31-year-old Pete Sampras after losing to the former champion in five sets in the third round. The embarrassment was akin to a dazed, beaten contender rising from the canvas and telling an ageing Muhammad Ali: "You're not The Greatest any more."

What Rusedski said about Sampras was this: "He's a great player from the past. You're used to seeing Pete Sampras, 13 times a Grand Slam champion. He's just not the same player. He's a step and a half slow coming to the net. He's still a good player, but he's not the great player. I lost the match rather than he won the match because, when it counted, I showed him too much respect."

We know Sampras is past his best and has not won a title since Wimbledon 2000. We also know that Sampras can beat Rusedski nine times out of 10, because that is what the record shows. So Rusedski's blunt assessment of Sampras served as a self-indictment, particularly as the British No 2's chance of victory virtually ended after he failed to nail the opening set despite holding two set points before play was suspended for rain on Sunday night and a third set point when the match resumed on Monday night. Sampras, to his credit, prevailed, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.

Play had been delayed for more than seven hours, and when the rain stopped, the courts were awash with matches. Tim Henman followed Rusedski and slipped down the drain. Both are due to mark birthdays on Friday (Rusedski turns 29, Henman 28), and Rusedski's bruised confidence seems less ominous than Henman's sore right shoulder.

With only 17 days to spare before Britain's latest attempt to cling to a place in the élite World Group of the Davis Cup, Henman's season is in the hands of a physiotherapist and the lap of the gods. The British No 1's inflamed right shoulder let him down, as we feared, and he winced to a third-round defeat against Juan Ignacio Chela, of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Henman, who took a gamble competing here only two weeks after aggravating the injury in the first round of a tournament in Indianapolis, having first felt pain in the shoulder when playing in Cincinnati a week earlier, knows that he needs treatment and rest. "It's not the most serious of injuries," he says, "but if I don't get it seen to it could change into a serious injury." But he is torn between prudence and ambition.

A sense of duty is urging him to play for his country against Thailand at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, from 20 to 22 September, and professional pride is pushing him towards the indoor ATP Tour events that could secure his place in the Masters Cup in Shanghai in November. Naturally, he would also like to be able to cradle his first child ­ his wife, Lucy, is due to give birth next month ­ without the impediment of having his arm in a sling.

Henman's priority on returning to London is to seek an appointment with Mark Bender, the Davis Cup squad's physiotherapist. "My shoulder's back to square one, just like it was after Indianapolis," Henman said. "It felt very stiff [in the Chela match]. From my early service games I knew from the way the ball was coming back that it wasn't going to be my day."

Against less dangerous opponents, Tuomas Ketola, of Finland, and Dick Norman, of Belgium, Henman said he had been able to "bluff" his way through the opening rounds. Asked if he had been tempted to retire against Chela after losing the opening two sets, Henman said: "If you start, you should try and finish. There have been enough retirements at this tournament."

A qualifying round contest against Thailand on a fast-to-medium court at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham would not normally be expected to stretch Roger Taylor's team. But the fulcrum of the visiting team is Paradorn Srichaphan, who trounced Andre Agassi at Wimbledon, and won his first ATP title on Long Island on the eve of the US Open, and came close to eliminating Rusedski in five sets in the second round.

Sunshine returned to Flushing Meadows yesterday when Martina Hingis's first Grand Slam tournament since undergoing ankle surgery in May ended in the fourth round when she was defeated 6-4, 6-2 by Monica Seles, the sixth seed. Seles will play Venus Williams, the second seed, in the quarter-finals.