Davis Cup mission keeps Henman out of Australian Open

Tim Henman has decided that his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery has not reached the stage where he can risk competing at the Australian Open which start on 13 January. But the British No 1 has not abandoned hope of being ready for the Davis Cup tie against Australia in Sydney from 7 to 9 February.

"Having only just got back on to the practice court I feel I would be rushing if I was to compete in five-set matches in just over two weeks time," Henman explained on his website. "My long-term health has to come first."

Henman intends to visit his coach, Larry Stefanki, in San Diego. "I could travel straight to Australia from there [for the Davis Cup] if I've fully recovered," he added.

Roger Taylor, Britain's Davis Cup captain, has already lost Greg Rusedski for the first-round World Group tie. Rusedski, the British No 2, told Taylor last week that he did not want to wait until the last minute to decide if he was fit to play in the Davis Cup on a slow clay court, and yesterday he had to withdraw from the ATP event in Doha, Qatar, where he was preparing to test his left foot on a hard court. He has withdrawn from the Australian Open, which is also played on a hard court. Rusedski, like Henman, is recovering after an operation and he has not played since losing to Pete Sampras at the United States Open in September.

As Taylor prepared to take two probable replacements, Alex Bogdanovic and Miles Maclagan, to Spain for clay court training and match practice, Henman said: "Losing Greg was a huge blow for the team, but we've got to try and cope as we did so successfully against Thailand. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to work hard in the hope that the decisions I'm making now will enable me to regain full fitness and continue to play at the highest level for the next five years."

Henman, who was scheduled to take part in a warm-up event at Kooyong starting on 8 January before moving on to the Australian Open, said: "This was a very difficult decision to make, but I've said all along that I was only going to make the trip to Australia if I felt my shoulder was fully recovered. At this stage of my career I am only interested in making the trip if I feel I can compete with the very best players in the world and have a realistic chance of winning the title."

* Lleyton Hewitt opened the new season yesterday by beating Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-1 in the Hopman Cup in Perth. Again partnering Alicia Molik in the mixed team event, Hewitt secured victory for Australia in the Group B match after Molik had beaten Silvia Farina Elia 6-3, 6-4. The Australians were awarded a walkover in the mixed doubles for a 3-0 win when Sanguinetti chose to rest his injured ankle.