Prospect of fatherhood puts Henman off his game

Tim Henman admitted imminent fatherhood had been a factor in his surprise defeat to Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan at the Masters event here yesterday.

With only days to go until the birth, Henman said he is easily distracted and gets jumpy every time his phone rings. His wife Lucy is expecting their first child on Sunday and that was clearly on his mind as he was dumped out 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, a loss that could prove costly as he tries to book a place in the Masters Cup at the end of the season.

"It's not an easy situation to play in mentally, it's hard to concentrate on court when you feel you have more important things to do, but it was a game I felt I could have won," said Henman. "Every time my home number comes up on the mobile, I miss a couple of heartbeats."

Henman's defeat left him with only one point from the tournament and joint fifth, with Spain's Carlos Moya on 421 points, in the ATP Champions Race. While the Briton's rivals for a place in the eight-strong field in Shanghai on 12 November continued the battle for points, Henman's challenge was put on hold until the concluding Masters Series event in Paris a week next Monday.

"Paris is up in the air until the baby comes, however I'd like to play if he or she arrives in the next week or so. I've also entered for Basle, but I don't know what will happen and we'll have to wait and see. What will be will be, Shanghai is a big goal, I've always made that clear but today won't help." he said.

Going into Madrid, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion, and the American Andre Agassi had already qualified for Shanghai and only 92 points separated Marat Safin, in third place, from Jiri Novak in 11th place. The top seven players in the Champions Race as of 4 November will qualify for the Masters Cup. The eighth place will either go to a current Grand Slam winner outside the top eight but within the top 20 or the eighth player in the Champions Race.

Albert Costa, of Spain, the French Open champion, started the week in eighth place. Thomas Johansson, of Sweden, the Australian Open champion, who is in 14th place, stayed in touch by defeating his compatriot Magnus Norman in the second round here. The seventh-placed Roger Federer, of Switzerland, beat Marcelo Rios, of Chile, in straight sets.

Federer recovered from a poor start to defeat Rios, who raced into a 2-0 lead before having an argument with the match umpire. Federer then went on to take the set 6-4 and sailed through the second 6-2 as Rios, his concentration broken, produced a string of unforced errors.

For Henman, Wednesday's defeat was a stark contrast to the last time he played Srichaphan a month ago. Then, he won easily to seal Britain's place in the World Group of the Davis Cup. There were concerns that a shoulder injury might prevent the British No 1 from playing in that tie against the Thais, but he took the risk and was rewarded with one of his finest moments as a professional. Yesterday, his shoulder again held up well.

"The shoulder is the second biggest bonus to come out of this," he said. "It was fine and I could serve aggressively without any inhibitions. Being able to go home is the biggest bonus."

Srichaphan announced his arrival on the world stage this summer when he knocked Andre Agassi out of Wimbledon and has gone on to have a solid season. "I think I played quite well myself at times, although I was a bit distracted, however this is not an excuse because he is playing as well as anyone at the moment," Henman added. "He'd get my vote for most improved player of the year and I'm glad I didn't have to play him on this surface [indoor hard] in Birmingham. The bounce in Birmingham was much lower. Here it bounces waist-high and he hits the ball very well."

It was a case of fifth-time lucky for the Thai player against Henman and was sweet revenge from their last encounter in September. "The court was very different to Birmingham and I felt very confident," said Srichaphan, who was particularly impressive with his backhand. "I like the court here, it is a lot slower and I had time to hit the ball as Henman advanced; it is slow here and the ball sits up high," he said.