Henman crashes on verge of victory

Tim Henman dismissed the platitudes, refused the script offered by a fawning section of the British media who trumpeted his excellence in the first two sets, and instead spoke of the shattering disappointment of defeat. "There is no consolation. None. It's irrelevant. At this level it's about winning and losing. Sure, I did play well, but I won two sets and in this tournament that's not enough."

The British number one led 1994 French Open finalist Alberto Berasategui by two sets to love, 31 in the fourth and 15-40 on the Spaniard's serve: he lost the match in five sets, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 75, 6-4.

Henman, who had never won a match at Roland Garros in three previous visits, demonstrated great purpose this year, practising diligently on the red clay.

The benefits were tangible, two victories and, after two hours on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the very real prospect of a third. The young Englishman had adapted his natural serve and volley game to cater for the demands of clay, effortlessly switching between following his serve in and staying back, alternating intelligently between topspin and slice.

It proved an irresistible cocktail and one that had renowned "dirt baller" Berasategui, as the clay court specialists are affectionately known, flummoxed. The Spaniard's vaunted groundstrokes - he actually hits his forehand and double fisted backhand with the same side of the racquet - were hardly a factor.

Henman denied him the opportunity to establish a rhythm from the back of the court by keeping the rallies concise, chipping and charging to great effect.

Berasategui facilitated his opponent by serving poorly, and this from a player who relies on a kick serve rather than any great pace. Quite aside from the 11 double faults, the Spaniard's delivery was short, providing Henman with the opportunity to slice to the corners and follow in to the net or simply crash outright winners.

As the match progressed, though, Berasategui redressed the problem, and his delivery carried a little more depth and swing.

Ironically Henman's delivery veered in the other direction, from excellent during the first two sets to woefully haphazard for most of the last three. This is reflected in the fact that the world number seven was broken seven times in the last three sets.

"I started to miss a few more serves in the middle of the third," he said. "And if anything I think I just needed to pick my spots a little bit more. I was aware that I was missing serves and if anything I was trying to get them in instead of picking a spot and just going for it. "It's a tough match to swallow. Once I started to miss a few first serves he got a few more opportunities and started to return better. It's a confidence swing sort of thing, a momentum change."

Henman broke in the fourth game of the first set and the seventh of the second, which proved decisive and allowed him to forge a two-set advantage. The Englishman broke again in the second game of the third set, and having forced a 15-40 advantage on the Berasategui serve at 3-1 had one foot in the fourth round.

The Spaniard fought off the two break points and took five of the next six games to win the set 6-4. At 5-5 and 30-30 Henman was forced into a backhand volley error and Berasategui took the game and the set with a magnificent backhand passing shot down the line.

Even then Henman had his chances, breaking in the third game to establish a 3-1 lead in the final set: he spurned two break points in the fifth game, generosity that he would rue.

The next three games went against the server before Berasategui held for 5-4. Henman led 40-15 but a forehand error and a double fault either side of a magnificent forehand winner from the former finalist forged a match point upon which he capitalised when Henman could only push a low forehand volley into the net.

Berasategui's form of late has been better after a very disappointing start to the year, but he is still ranked outside the top 100 players in the world. His analysis was candid: "I had a little bit of good fortune at times. The moment that I thought I could win was the third set. His serve was going down a little bit and I thought at that moment if he doesn't put a big percentage of his first serves in, I had a chance."

The 25-year-old from Bilbao now faces one of the tournament favourites, Chilean Marcelo Rios, a very accomplished winner against Spanish clay court specialist Albert Costa.

There were also victories from number three seed Patrick Rafter, Greg Rusedski and crowd favourite Andre Agassi. The American was afforded a standing ovation for one piece of virtuosity in his straight sets victory over countryman Chris Woodruff.

Chasing a decent lob, Agassi, without turning, hit a forehand between his legs that whistled past a bemused Woodruff at the net, much to the delight of the spectators.