Henman loses at Rogers Cup

August 8, 2005 06:00 PM
MONTREAL (AP) _ Dominik Hrbaty rallied to beat Tim Henman 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 Monday in the opening round of the Rogers Cup.

The 10th-seeded Henman used a combination of tough serves and net play to win the first set. But a lapse in the second set continued into the third. Henman shot a ball into the stands after being broken to trail 3-1.

"It's frustrating,'' he said. "I haven't played that much tennis and that many matches. "I'd love to be winning and getting on a roll, but I'm not putting any extra pressure on myself.''

Andre Agassi was scheduled to play Alberto Martin in a late Monday match.

After a disappointing early loss at Wimbledon, Henman said he took a couple of weeks off in Italy and came back motivated and refreshed.

"It certainly hasn't shown in my results yet, but I'm a big believer the hard work you put in will pay off somewhere down the line,'' Henman said.

Ricardo Mello of Brazil beat 16-year-old Philip Bester 6-4, 6-2. The youngster from North Vancouver, B.C., won the 2004 Under-18 national junior title. But a series of unforced errors at the net and baseline prevented him from mounting a charge.

France's Richard Gasquet beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (3). Gasquet, who top-ranked Roger Federer in Monte Carlo this year, may run into top-seeded Rafael Nadal in a third-round match.

Tommy Robredo needed three sets to beat Kevin Kim 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

In other matches, Mario Ancic defeated Cyril Saulnier 6-3, 7-6 (8); Karol Beck beat Noam Okun 6-3, 6-2; Andrei Pavel defeated Christophe Rochus 6-1, 7-5; Jonas Bjorkman downed Vincent Spadea 6-3, 6-2.

Other later matches Monday include Frederic Niemeyer against fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko and David Nalbandian against Greg Rusedski.
 

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