New blow for Henman

New blow for Henman

Henman missed the Australian Open in January

Tim Henman has suffered another shoulder injury which could keep him off court for several weeks.

The British number one had just recovered from the shoulder surgery that forced him to miss the Australian Open earlier this year.

But on his return from the recent Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami, Henman experienced some slight stiffness in his shoulder during his first few days of clay court practice.

The 28-year-old has pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters, which begins on Monday and will be the first Masters event Henman has missed in five years.

Henman told his official website: "Having taken my time to make sure that I fully recovered from my operation, and after feeling 100% in America recently, it's really frustrating to have picked up a slightly different shoulder problem.

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"As I've said all along, whilst undergoing extensive rehabilitation for the initial injury I have to be 100% fit to compete with the very best players in the world.

"I'm not hitting any balls at the moment but I am continuing my off-court training."

Dr Michael Turner, the Lawn Tennis Association's chief medical advisor, explained: "Tim has started to get some pain in his shoulder.

"An MRI scan has shown some inflammation and therefore Tim has had to rest and he's due to repeat the MRI next week.

"The good news is we do know that this inflammation has nothing to do with his last shoulder injury."

Henman, who has recently dropped out of the top 10 to a world ranking of 22, now faces the possibility of missing out on a seeding for Wimbledon.

Having reached the semi-finals in Monte Carlo last year, he will lose 225 points next week and could drop as low as 31.

Only the top 32 players in the world are seeded for Wimbledon.

French number one Sebastien Grosjean will also miss next week's Masters event in Monte Carlo after tearing a thigh muscle during France's Davis Cup defeat to Switzerland last weekend.