ROTTERDAM (Netherlands), Feb 21: Sixth seed Tim Henman fought back from matchpoint down to complete a marathon 7-5 4-6 7-5 victory over Fabrice Santoro on Thursday and reach the quarter-finals of the World Indoor Tournament.
While Henman had to battle for over two hours to reach the last eight, defending champion Nicolas Escude of France demolished Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-2 in just 55 minutes.
Fourth seed Sebastien Grosjean also advanced with a straightforward 6-0 6-2 win over British qualifier Martin Lee.
World number 27 Santoro held matchpoint at 5-4 in the deciding set on Henman’s serve, but an emphatic ace by the Briton ended the furious Frenchman’s hopes of pulling off an upset win.
Santoro, 29, was annoyed with umpire Lars Graff’s decision to call a Henman forehand in which allowed the Briton to go 30-0 up in that game.
Had the point gone his way, Santoro believed he would have been the victor as he went on to win four successive points from 0-40 down to gain matchpoint.
A pumped up Henman, Rotterdam finalist in 1999 and 2000 and a winner in Adelaide last month, decisively broke Santoro’s serve in the next game before completing victory with a crosscourt volley.
Henman will meet Marat Safin’s conqueror Czech Bohdan Ulihrach for a place in the semifinals.
Unseeded Escude, who knocked out top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero on Wednesday, showed no mercy as he raced to a 5-0 first set lead, breaking Robredo in the second and fourth games with a succession of winning volleys.
Escude’s powerful serving kept the 34th ranked Spaniard on the backfoot in the second. Attacking Robredo’s slow spun delivery, Escude won 75 percent of points on the Spaniard’s second serves which proved decisive.
But Escude can expect a tougher encounter in the last eight as he faces seventh seed Roger Federer, who advanced without hitting a ball as Marseille champion Thomas Enqvist withdrew suffering from flu.
Second round results: Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) bt Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3; Ivo Heuberger (Switzerland) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) walkover; Sebastien Grosjean (France) bt Martin Lee (Britain) 6-0 6-2; 6-Tim Henman (Britain) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-5 4-6 7-5; Nicolas Escude (France) bt Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-1 6-2
DUBAI: Monica Seles and Sandrine Testud both enjoyed one-sided victories to stride into the semifinals of the Dubai Open Thursday.
Second seeded Seles, who admits she is feeling weary and grumpy after playing for eight consecutive weeks, took just 46 minutes to overwhelm seventh seed Angeles Montolio of Spain 6-0 6-2 and fourth seeded Testud swept past sixth seed Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-2 6-0.
Top seed Venus Williams takes on Russia’s Anastasia Myskina for a place in the semis later Thursday while third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo takes on Slovenia’s Tina Pisnik.—Reuters