Santoro humbles Henman

Henman was not in his best form in Miami

Fabrice Santoro (Fra) bt Tim Henman (GB) 4-6 7-6 6-3

Tim Henman's inconsistent season continued as he was beaten by Fabrice Santoro in the second round of the Masters Series in Miami.

The British number one had won the first set but lost the second on a tie-break and then capitulated to crash out of the Ericsson Open.

Henman, the ninth seed, never looked comfortable and failed to make the most of his break-point chances which allowed the Frenchman to grow in confidence to secure victory.

Henman took the opening set 6-4 after both men put in some poor service games.

I wouldn't say I'm pleased right now, but it's something you have to deal with

  Tim Henman

He was broken twice, but his opponent lost his serve on three occasions.

Henman found himself 5-3 down in the second set before rallying to break Santoro in the ninth and then holding his own service game to pull level at 5-5.

Both men then held serve to send the second set into a tie-break, which the Frenchman won 7-4 to force the match into a deciding set.

Henman was in danger of losing his concentration and had made 14 unforced errors - double the number of his opponent - and took just one of his four break-point chances in the second set, which lasted just under an hour.

Consistency

The next six games went with serve before Santoro broke Henman's service to go 4-3 in front and then held his own.

By now Henman was all at sea and put up little resistance to hand Santoro a 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 triumph.

Afterwards a despondent Henman said: "He certainly played well and deserved to win it.

"The way he played, his consistency, he deserved to win.

"I wouldn't say I'm pleased right now, but it's something you have to deal with."