Henman holds his nerve

Henman concentrates on his way to a three-set win

T Henman (GB) beats R Schuttler (Ger)
6-2 5-7 7-6

Tim Henman believes his first-round win over Germany's Rainer Schuttler at the Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells once again proved he now has the experience to handle pressure situations.

The British ace, seeded 10th for the California tournament, looked on course for a quick win after taking the first set 6-2.

But his opponent fought back to claim the second set 7-5 before Henman needed to hold his nerve to claim the third set and victory on a tie-break.

"I now sort of pride myself on being able to keep fighting until the very last point, not giving anything away," said Henman.

"It was a great one to come through.

"I told myself, there's no point in trying to force the issue, to try any harder, because I know that I'm trying at a 100%.

You've got to treat every match as a final,

  Tim Henman

"I've got to just try to keep playing to my strengths and keep playing the way that's going to give me the best chance of winning.

"That's what sort of kept me going because I think it would have been pretty easy at certain stages in the third set to get frustrated and blow a gasket.

"You have to be able to maintain your game, just keep your level going."

Henman will now face Frenchman Cedric Pioline, a 7-6 6-3 winner over Max Mirnyi, of Belarus, in his first match.

The pair are 2-2 in career meetings, with Henman having won in Indianapolis in 1995 and at Wimbledon in 1999 while Pioline came out on top in Copenhagen in 1996 and in a 6-7 6-4 7-6 thriller in Rotterdam last year.

"In a tournament like this, when you look at the draw, it's like you've got to treat every match as a final," added Henman.

"I think it's great for tennis, but it doesn't make it particularly easy for everybody because the standard is so high, the matches are so tough from the word go."