Henman is in a hurry to vanquish Gaudio

Shrugging off signs of a possible let-down after his smart victory against Marat Safin, the Russian former world No 1, Tim Henman advanced to the semi-finals of the Masters Series tournamant here yesterday with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Gaston Gaudio, of Argentina. The British No 1 now plays either Yevgeny Kafelinikov or the American, Todd Martin.

Having sliced Safin to distraction in the third round on Thursday evening with low bounces from his backhand, recovering from 3-5 in the opening to defeat the powerful, but erratic, 2000 United States Open champion, 7-6, 6-4, Henman was troubled by his own game as much as Gaudio's in the quarter-finals.

The Argentinian had failed to take a set off Henman in their two previous meetings – both of which were on slow European clay – but Henman's capricious first serve was Gaudio's chief ally in the opening games on the concrete court. Fortunately for Henman, the Argentinian does not have an initimdating serve, otherwise he would have capitalised after Henman lost his opening two service games.

Although Henman recovered the breaks and went on to take the first set by three breaks to two, the Briton offered Gaudio two opportunities in the fifth game and two more when serving out the set in ninth. With his serve misbehaving, Henman's volleying was less reliable than usual, at least until his game settled in the second set.

Before that happened, Henman had to save four break points at 0-1, recovering from 0-40 after being given the benefit of a close line call on the first break point. Gaudio, disappointed at losing this game, immediately came under attack. He, too, faced four break points, Henman converting the last of them with a backhand cross-court pass in response to a drop-volley to lead 2-1.

Gaudio won only three points in the next three games, and Henman broke for 5-2 with an impressive forehand drive. But, when it came to closing the match, Henman again looked vulnerable, hitting a forehand long at 30-30 to present Gaudio with one last chance to get back into the match. Although Henman missed his first serve on the break point, Gaudio hit a backhand wide attempting to return the Briton's second delivery.

Henman, who has yet to win a Masters Series event, secured his place in the semi-finals on his third match point. He has won his last two matches against Kafelnikov, although the Russian leads the head-to-head, 8-5, and Henman is tied 3-3 with Martin, but has won their last two contests.

The top seed, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, overcame America's Jan-Michael Gambill in a 6-2, 6-4 win in the third round.