Henman survives first-round scare
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-23 09:12

Tim Henman rode a wave of passionate support to stutter into the second round of Wimbledon with a 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-2 victory over Spain's Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo.

Bidding to end Britain's 68-year wait for a homegrown men's champion, Henman's title chances had appeared to be in jeopardy for almost two sets as his claycourt specialist opponent punched one hole after another into the fifth seed's game.

Henman arrived at the grasscourt grand slam with especially high hopes this year following his surprising run to the semi-finals of the French Open earlier this month.

Add a favourable draw to the equation -- Mark Philippoussis is the only notable seed Henman has to face before a potential semi-final with second seed Andy Roddick -- and the omens looked good for an easy passage through the first week.

Playing his 96th match on grass, Henman had been expected to demolish a opponent making his debut on the slick turf, but initially it was 89th-ranked Ramirez-Hidalgo who took the game to the serve-and-volley exponent on court one.

As the 29-year-old uncharacteristically buried two volleys into the net to drop his serve to love in the seventh game of the opening set, the pony-tailed Ramirez-Hidalgo pumped his fists in delight.

The smile on Ramirez-Hidalgo's face grew even wider three games later when he slammed an unreturnable backhand into Henman's racket to bag the first set in just 22 minutes.

With Henman's trademark weapons continuing to misfire at the start of the second, Ramirez-Hidalgo gained an early break and edged closer to recording his first victory at a grand slam event.

But Henman had only once before stumbled at the first hurdle at the All England Club -- on his debut in 1994 -- and, after labouring for more than an hour, he finally cracked Ramirez-Hidalgo's resolve and gained the break back.

Backed by cries of 'Come on Tim' and 'Go on Tiger', Henman took the set into a tiebreak, but again the Spaniard had the initiative.

Henman was forced to save two sets points, the second with a sublime volley which left the charging Ramirez-Hidalgo sliding into the net.

That gave the Briton the boost he needed and he took the tiebreak 8-6 to level the contest at one-set all

Thereafter the 26-year-old Spaniard never looked like winning and Henman sealed his passage to a second-round tie against Swiss qualifier Ivo Heuberger with his 13th ace.

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