Henman made to fight

Henman is through to the last eight in Monte Carlo

Tim Henman battled his way into the last eight of the Monte Carlo Masters with a win over Juan Ignacio Chela.

The British number one eventually saw off the 22-year-old from Argentina 6-2 6-7(4/7) 6-4.

Henman came out firing, breaking his opponent's serve in the fourth game and remaining in the driving seat thereafter.

Chela fought back to take a 4-0 lead in the second set, but Henman reeled off five straight games to put himself back in control.

He survived two break points to move within a game of victory, but Chela refused to lie down and he won the subsequent tie-break to take the match to a third set.

The first four games in the decider went with serve before Henman broke through in the fifth.

Chela won the second set tie-break

Chela forced a break point in the ninth game but Henman held his nerve and his serve to go through.

It was Henman's third win over Latin American competition at the tournament.

Having beaten Chela's compatriot Guillermo Coria in the first round and then Nicolas Massu of Chile on Wednesday, the 27-year-old is looking increasingly confident on clay against useful opposition.

The number four seed will face now face Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson after the Swede saw off Andrei Pavel of Romania 1-6 6-4 7-5.