THE Munich pavements or, more correctly, the floor of the Olympiahalle, are truly paved with gold. Barely 24 hours after stepping off a plane from London Tim Henman, by beating Germany's Michael Stich 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Grand Slam Cup yesterday, guaranteed himself a cheque of at least $262,500. Nice work if you can get it.

Not that everybody wants it. Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Todd Martin, Thomas Muster and, yesterday, Thomas Enqvist all decided for various reasons to stay within the bosom of their loved ones. Enqvist, no doubt exhausted by the weekend's Davis Cup exertions, has been replaced by Spain's Alex Corretja, the man who took Sampras to the limit at the US Open this year.

On the face of it a tournament which pays out total prize money of $6 million ought to be too attractive for anyone to miss. Instead the Grand Slam Cup lends credence to the adage that money cannot buy you everything - least of all the undivided attention of some of the world's leading players.

What is even worse than them failing to turn up is the awful realisation that many who manage to don shirts and shorts stay just long enough to pocket the first round loser's cheque for $100,000.

Inevitably the opening matches have an air of almost total unreality. There is no such thing as a genuine upset, thus MaliVai Washington's victory over Richard Krajicek, a repeat of the Wimbledon final, was of no consequence whatsoever. This in tabloid terms, was no grudge return, just a means to an end for the Dutchman who lost 6-1 6-2

Next week he enters hospital for a knee operation. Here, thanks to the $250,000 bonus paid to all winners of either the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon or Flushing Meadow, Krajicek picked up $350,000 for 46 minutes of unadulterated dross.

This could not be said of Henman's match for the British number one recaptured much of the sparkle and quality of the US Open and Wimbledon.

"Tim was very good. He didn't make many mistakes and gave me a real hard time," said the German, who won this competition four years ago. Henman will next play Washington, an encounter he is certainly capable of winning.

Henman, who had not played since winning the British title at Telford last month, practised for 90 minutes with Jim Courier on Monday and was understandably delighted that he had hit the ball so well yesterday.

With this one victory Henman won more prize money than for the whole of 1995, an indication of just how much his life has changed. "But it was not as if I was focused on the money," he said. "I've said it often enough, but tennis is more my hobby than my occupation.

Not strictly true, of course, but Henman is obviously at this stage in his development when the winning of tournaments and titles is paramount rather than a bulging bank balance, although obviously the two are intertwined.

Stich, when he loses, is normally given to blaming everybody and everything other than himself. On this occasion there were no real excuses, although his injured right shoulder is patently not 100 percent. "The only way I could test it was by playing, but Tim was very fast and I was always half a step too slow."

The German, like so many players and observers of the game, believe Henman has potential to get close to the top. "But there are no guarantees. He is very talented. It now depends on how he reacts to the various pressures.

Henman's first serve, powerful as it has become, remains erratic, but his returns yesterday were often of exceptional quality. He failed to capitalise on two break points early on, but went on to nail Stich's serve twice in the first-set.

There were few signs of the German lifting his own game there-after, apart from a couple of mightily hit forehands, so that when Henman broke him again midway through the second set the result was inevitable.

In the day's other match, Boris Becker defeated Australia's Jason Stoltenberg 6-3, 6-2 - now it really would have been a shock if Becker had lost.