A frosty relationship

Rusedski and Henman have a frosty relationship

Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski met on court for the first time in 17 months when Henman won 6-2 7-6 in the opening round of the AAPT Championship in Adelaide.

There were few signs of the recent friction between the two players, although Rusedski let his frustration get the better of him at times as he disputed a number of line calls.

While there were smiles over the net as they shook hands in Adelaide, previous encounters have been less than friendly.

  Head to head

2000 Adelaide:
Henman 6-2 7-6

1999 Indian Wells:
Henman 6-4 2-6 6-4

1998 Singles Championship, Germany:
Rusedski 6-2 6-4

1997 Vienna, Austria:
Rusedski 6-4 6-4

1996 Ostrava, Czech Republic:
Henman 7-6 7-5

The pair are not close and clashed publicly during the ATP Samsung Open in Brighton just over a month ago, a tournament won by Henman as he finished the season ranked 10 in the ATP Champions Race.

Henman criticised Rusedski, who had already been knocked out, for refusing to play an exhibition match when Henman's quarter-final opponent Chris Woodruff withdrew at short notice because of injury.

Unsavoury episode

But Rusedski countered with allegations that influential figures at the event were deliberately trying to undermine him and had leaked details of his refusal to play to the media.

He also phoned Henman to castigate him but the British number one refused to back down from his stance.

Henman reiterated his belief that it would have been entirely reasonable to expect Rusedski - preparing for a doubles match later that evening - to entertain the afternoon crowd.

It all added up to another unsavoury episode in a less than amicable relationship.