22 October 2004	Friday	07 Ramazan 1425

MADRID, Oct 21: Mild-mannered Tim Henman flung his racket in anger late in the final set on the way to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 upset at the hands of Ivan Ljubicic at the 2.425-milion-euro Madrid Masters.

Henman, normally calm under fire, let his frustration rip in the third round disaster when he hammered his stick down as his Croatian opponent took a 5-2 lead late in the third set.

The former Bosnian war refugee claimed victory a game later with a concluding break as Henman's chance for glory this week in Spain evaporated in one hour, 58 minutes.

The Briton was given the top seeding this week in the absence of the world's top four players - Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Guilermo Coria and Lleyton Hewitt.

The bitter loss was the third in four meetings for Henman against Ljuicic, who improved to 33-21 on the season.

Henman and his 29th-ranked opponent got stuck into battle from the start, with neither man able to dent the other's defences.

The opening set stayed on serve into the tenth game, when Ljubicic, holding a 5-4 lead, got the first look at a break.

One of Henman's 17 unforced errors in the set gave the Croatian a set point, with the British top seed salvaging the first with a lucky reflex volley.

But a net cord bounce which went Ljubicic's way on the next point reversed Henman's brief good fortune. The challenger claimed the set after 44 minutes when Henman went wide down the line.

Henman stayed the course in the second, finally earning his first break point of the afternoon in the seventh game, earning the 4-3 lead on a netted return.

With some momentum finally on his side, the top seed reacted, squaring the match at one set each as he converted on the first of two set points.

Results (third round):

David Nalbandian (ARG) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (THA) 6-3, 6-1; Joachim Johansson (SWE) bt Antony Dupuis (FRA) 6-1, 7-6 (8/6); Taylor Dent (USA) bt Tommy Haas (GER) 7-6, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) bt Tim Henman (GBR) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Tommy Robredo (SPA) bt Fernando Verdasco (SPA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Luis Horna (PER) bt Andrei Pavel (ROM) 7-5, 6-4.

Dementieva in last 8

ZURICH: Third seed Elena Dementieva came through a scrappy battle with Russian Fed Cup team mate Elena Bovina 7-5 3-6 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Zurich Challenge on Thursday.

Both players dropped serve five times in the opening two sets before Dementieva finally found her rhythm to romp past Bovina in the deciding set.

The French and U.S. Open runner-up has not enjoyed the best of luck against Russian players this year, losing to Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova in both grand slam finals.

She has also been beaten by Russians in three of her last five tournaments and another showdown could be on the cards here where she may face Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.

Results

Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) 6-4 6-3; Venus Williams (U.S.) bt Ana Ivanovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 7-6 (13-11) 7-6 (8-6); Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Elena Bovina (Russia) 7-5 3-6 6-0; Paola Suarez (Argentina) bt Emilie Loit (France) 6-1 2-2 retired.-Agencies