Henman's moulded game reshaped to thrive on Paris clay

Tim Henman, whose odyssey through the clay-court season took him to the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Open last month, has yet to advance beyond the third round of the French Open, which starts next Monday. The British No 1, seeded sixth, is due to open his campaign against Galo Blanco, of Spain, who won their only previous match in straight sets in the first round in Monte Carlo in 1998.

Four years ago, Henman was regarded as a soft touch on slow clay, his natural attacking style tailored for faster courts. He has worked hard to improve his all-court game and now has the confidence to put his loss to Blanco down to experience and also has the common sense not to be fooled by the Spaniard's poor results so far this year.

Blanco, who has won only four matches, is 94th in the ATP Champions Race. But he will expect his mood and form to lift the moment he returns to Paris and Roland Garros. It was there last year that he eliminated Pete Sampras in the second round en route to the last 16, where he lost to Sebastien Grosjean, of France, who reached the semi-finals.

Henman, while determined to make the most of his more optimistic approach to competing on clay, will leave it to others to speculate that he could meet Grosjean in the fourth round and Marat Safin or Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals.

In the absence of Greg Rusedski, who is nursing a neck injury, Martin Lee is Britain's only other direct entry into the singles. Lee, the British No 3, is due to play Andre Pavel, of Romania, for the first time. Lee has only won one of eight ATP Tour matches this year, Pavel has won 17 of 28 and is 29th in the Champions Race.

Preparing for the French Open with a match against Russia at the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf yesterday, Henman defeated Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-2, 7-6, and Lee lost to Safin, the leader of the Champions Race, 7-5, 7-5. Safin and Kafelnikov then crushed Lee and Miles MacLagan in the decisive doubles 6-1, 6-0 to secure a place in today's final against Argentina.

Lleyton Hewitt, the world No 1, plays Andre Sa, of Brazil, in his opening match. The Australian has three past winners in his quarter of the draw: Carlos Moya, Michael Chang and Gustavo Kuerten. Kuerten, of Brazil, the defending champion, plays Ivo Heuberger, of Switzerland, in his opening match.

Sampras, who has been unable to add the French Open to his record 13 Grand Slam singles titles, plays Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi in the first round. Richard Gasquet, the 15-year-old French wild card, has drawn the experienced Albert Costa, of Spain. Marcelo Rios, of Chile, the former world No 1, has withdrawn because of a knee injury.

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who contested the women's singles final at the United States Open last September, are in opposite sides of the draw. In the first round, Venus, the second seed, plays Bianka Lamade, of Germany, and Serena, the third seed, meets Martina Sucha, of Slovakia.