The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Chela rallies past Henman

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 13, 2005

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Chela rallies past Henman

HAMBURG: French Open semifinalist Tim Henman missed a wonderful chance to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters Series here on Thursday when he let slip a lead of a set and a break of serve in the second set against Juan Ignacio Chela.

The fifth-seeded Briton also came within one point of earning the chance to serve for the match against the Argentine before losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and becoming eighth seed to fall.

Henman claimed that the incident, which occurred on that break point at 4-4, was his abiding memory of the match, for it involved him in an influential controversy with umpire Fergus Murphy.

Chela served a second delivery which Henman thought had landed out and ought to have given him a crucial 5-4 lead, but it was called in, whereupon Henman summoned Murphy to inspect the mark where the ball had landed.

``But he came down and pointed to the mark where the ball had landed two points before,'' claimed Henman. ``With umpires there is an art to picking up the marks and he hasn't got it.''

Television replays suggested that Henman might have been correct in his assertions, but nevertheless it was remarkable now the cool-looking Briton became so annoyed by the decision, allowing his standard of play to fall immediately. He slashed the next two returns of serve for losers, played an indifferent next game to drop his service game and lose the set, and was soon a double break of serve down in the final set.

Although Henman pulled himself together and started to make a late rally, it was by then far too late, for Chela had grown in confidence and was moving the ball about with his ground strokes with greater control than before.

Afterwards Henman declined to shake hands with Murphy, kicked a ball boy mat and spat.

It was the second time in two days that the Irishman had been sucked into a controversy.

Bhupathi and

Woodbridge lose

In the doubles third round, Mahesh Bhupathi and Todd Woodbridge lost to Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi 2-6, 3-6. On Wednesday, Bhupathi and Woodbridge defeated Gaston Etlis and Rodriguez 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.

Ferrero ousted

Safin's conqueror, the former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, did not last much longer however. The Spaniard was unable to survive the tenacity and consistency of another Russian, the much-improved Nikolay Davydenko, and was beaten 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

There was another warning sign for the future — perhaps the very near future. Richard Gasquet, the 18-year-old Frenchman who brought Roger Federer's long unbeaten run to an end in Monte Carlo last month, reached the quarterfinals with a devastating 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dominik Hrbaty, the top 20 Slovakian. well. There are days like this, no mistakes. I played a very solid match.''

Serena crashes out

In a major upset, Italy's Francesca Schiavone defeated third seed and reigning Australian Open champion Serena Williams in the second round.

Schiavone, ranked 26th in the world and without a single WTA singles title to her name, defeated the seven-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 at the Foro Italico on Wednesday.

The results:

At Hamburg (Hamburg Masters): Third round: Juan Ignacio Chela bt Tim Henman 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Richard Gasquet bt Dominik Hrbaty 6-1, 6-2; Nikolay Davydenko bt Juan Carlos Ferrero 3-6, 6-2, 6-1; Guillermo Coria bt Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-3. Second round: Gaston Gaudio bt Albert Costa 7-5, 6-0; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Marat Safin 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Richard Gasquet bt Nicolas Massu 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Dominik Hrbaty bt Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-6(2); Andreas Seppi bt Guillermo Canas 7-6(9), 6-2; Felippo Volandri bt Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

At Rome (Italian Open): Third round: Amelie Mauresmo bt Silvia Farina Elia 6-4, 6-3; Vera Zvonareva bt Catalina Castano 6-1, 5-7, 6-2; Patty Schnyder bt Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-2. Second round: Francesca Schiavone bt Serena Williams 7-6 (7/2), 6-1; Elena Bovina bt Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-2; Nadia Petrova bt Mara Santangelo 6-3, 6-1; Vera Zvonareva bt Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-1; Evgenia Linetskaya bt Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5); Ana Ivanovic bt Anna Chakvetadze 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Patty Schnyder bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 6-4.

At Prague (Prague Open): Second round: Jill Craybas bt Cho Yoon-Jeong 7-5, 6-4; Mariana Diaz-Oliva bt Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-1; Zuzana Ondraskova bt Jelena Kostanic 7-5, 7-5; Klara Koukalova bt Maja Matevzic 6-3, 3-0 retired.

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