Black day avoided by Henman

The billowing black smoke, that rose in plumes from a neighbouring block of flats wafted across Wimbledon, a reminder that real life continues outside the confines of the All England club.

The fire was a momentary curiosity for those shrouded in Union Jack bunting who had come to celebrate at the altar of Tim Henman, England's last survivor in the men's singles.

The pall of smoke which darkened the immediate environs of SW19, blending with an already angry sky on Saturday offered an appropriate backdrop to Henman's contest with Zimbabwean Byron Black, a player who had twice beaten the Englishman in previous contests.

Henman resumed from the previous night, leading by a set and 32 with a break in the second.

He closed out the set, despite experiencing a little difficulty on his final service game but there were tiny indications that the fist-clenching was to convince himself as much as anyone else that his game was in good order.

Ominously Black was performing more capably than he did on Friday night. He is not particularly suited to grass, despite being an excellent doubles player. He is reluctant, however, to follow his serve into the net. But what the Zimbabwean does well is to blast punishing ground-strokes, double-handed on either wing.

Aware that he required an early break in the third set, he duly accomplished this in the second game and inaugurated a dramatic change in the match. A flurry of passing shots convinced Henman to remain on the baseline, utter folly as it transpired.

The surest way to discomfort a double-handed opponent, who obviously labours with a more restricted reach than the conventional player, is to push the ball wide, something that Henman had managed with some exemplary volleying in the first two sets.

His new approach proved disastrous as he tossed away the third set and found himself a break down in the fourth.

Black, serving at 5-4, was perhaps guilty of premature celebration, enjoying the moment mentally that had not arrived physically.

Not for the first time in the tournament a poor line-call changed the flow of a match. Black looked to have redeemed himself when forcing Henman, break point down on his serve, to push a chipped backhand long but there was no call. Twice, French umpire Bruno Rebeuh had over-ruled in Henman's favour and now another crucial decision was to go the Englishman's way.

Black shouted: "Don't be scared man, don't be scared," later admitting that "I just didn't want the umpire to back down, just to be fair to both sides. I definitely believe that ball was out." He never recovered, losing the next two games, his service to love and the match.

Henman now faces number six seed and US Open champion Patrick Rafter, an altogether more onerous assignment. He is, unlike the Englishman's first three foes, all baseliners, an advocate of pure serve and volley.

The partisan home supporters were doubly blessed on Saturday. They acclaimed another home-grown player who had slipped through to the last 16. Samantha Smith provided a huge shock when she defeated former champion and number eight seed Conchita Martinez 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Smith's brilliant performance has earned her a tilt at 16th seed, Natalie Tauziat of France. Monica Seles confirmed her progress with victory over Yayuk Basuki while defending champion Martina Hingis offered her most accomplished display with a 6-2, 6-1 success over Elena Likhovtseva.

Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, seeded 11, became another major casualty when losing to Holland's Jan Simerink in a keenly contested five-set marathon.

The Dutchman had only managed to get past the first round once in his last six visits to Wimbledon, so he admitted to relishing the rarefied atmosphere of the fourth.