Tennis: Rusedski leaves Henman behind

Greg Rusedski maintained British interest in the Stockholm Open yesterday after Tim Henman was beaten in the quarter-finals by the top seed, Patrick Rafter.

Rusedski, the British No 1 who has been suffering from a virus all week, was granted a walkover after Magnus Larsson pulled out through illness.

Larsson's withdrawal came as a surprise to Rusedski, but the second seed will not have been displeased at not having to step on court in view of the Swede's sparkling form in his second-round victory over the defending champion, Thomas Enqvist.

"I guess Magnus got the bug I had," said Rusedski, who spent Tuesday and Wednesday in bed before recovering to beat Lionel Roux on Thursday.

"I was practising on a court next to Magnus earlier and everything seemed fine. A little later, his coach came up to me and said `well done'. I didn't know why. Then he told me Magnus couldn't play."

Rusedski, therefore, will have had some extra rest before facing either Cedric Pioline or Jan Siemerink in today's semi-finals.

There was no such luck for Henman, who failed to take advantage of early chances in his 6-3, 6-3 defeat against Rafter.

Henman saved a match point with an ace but the Australian, who claimed the US Open title when beating Rusedski in the final, spent 69 minutes attacking the British No 2's game with serve-and-volley brilliance.

Henman had break points in Rafter's first three service games and admitted: "If I'd taken my chances I could have been up 5-0.

"As it was, I was 3-2 down. I created enough opportunities. If you have break points in three games and don't take them, that's the story of the match."

Henman said Rafter, who he was playing for the first time, had performed at a consistently high level. "That's the secret of his game," he said.

Henman will now return to Britain for the National Championships in Telford next week.

"My season is over and it's not been a bad year," he said. "I won my first two titles, finished in the top 20 and got as high as No 14."

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