26/06/2003

Assured Henman through to Wimbledon third round

British tennis number one Tim Henman swept to a straight sets victory over Frenchman Michael Llodra to go on to the third round of Wimbledon, on Thursday.

The sole Briton left in this year's Wimbledon singles draw, Henman won 6-4 6-4 6-3 to take on Robin Soderling in the next round.

Looking more assured that he did against qualifier Thomas Zib, Henman took his opportunities in each set to overcome some brilliant if patchy play by Llodra.

The Frenchman failed to capitalise on key break points when Henman pulled out all the stops to display some of his best tennis this year, particularly in the first set where at 5-4 he strung together a series of superb passing shots to take the set.

Although losing serve in the first game of the second set, Henman held his nerve to break back immediately. The second set finale was a repeat of the first set, with Henman breaking Llodra’s service at 5-4 to take the set.

Another break of the Llodra service game in the third set was sufficient to see Henman through to the next round, to the delight of the crowd.

(SP)

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