18 November 2004	Thursday	05 Shawwal 1425

HOUSTON, Nov 17: Andy Roddick squeezed past Britain's Tim Henman 7-5 7-6 at the Masters Cup on Tuesday, giving his fellow Texans the hometown win they came to see.

A packed house at the West side Tennis Club waited patiently during a rain delay lasting one hour 50 minutes and Roddick, who recently moved from Florida to nearby Austin, rewarded them with a high-quality victory in the Blue Group round-robin section.

But Henman's serve and volley game has always proved a problem for Roddick, who has lost three of four career meetings with the 30-year-old Briton. Delighted to be back in the season finale for the first time since 1998, and playing the best hard court tennis of his career, Henman was not about to waste his opportunity and provided Roddick with the stern test he expected.

Roddick had only one break chance in the entire match and made the most of it, crunching a service return winner past Henman to clinch the opening set. Henman looked poised to take the match into a third set when he rocketed into a 5-2 lead. Roddick, though, reeled off six of the next seven points to snatch the tiebreak 8-6.

Earlier, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Russia's Marat Safin registered wins over players returning to action after long injury layoffs. A fired-up Hewitt underlined his determination to end the season with a third Masters Cup crown when he rallied past Spain's Carlos Moya 6-7 6-2 6-4 in the Red Group while Safin crushed Argentine Guillermo Coria 6-1 6-4 in the Blue Group.

Before arriving in Houston, a grumpy Safin complained about having to play outdoors after having spent the last two months on the indoor circuit. The day began under gloomy skies with Hewitt returning to the West side Tennis Club looking to close out his rain-delayed match in quick fashion.

Leading 5-4, 0-30 and needing two points to take the opening set, Hewitt's play was as dreary as the Texas weather, allowing Moya to claw back to claim the set in a tiebreak 7-5.

Round-robin results

Red Group

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) bt Carlos Moya (Spain) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4

Blue Group

4-Marat Safin (Russia) bat Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 6-1 6-4

Playing later:

Blue Group

Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Tim Henman (Britain) 7-5, 7-6. -Reuters