Tim Henman joined compatriot Greg Rusedski in the US Open second round yesterday with a 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 victory over Australia's Scott Draper. It could not be described as straight forward, for nothing ever is at this tournament with its unending cacophony of extraneous sounds and the near-constant courtside movement of spectators who have scant regard for tennis etiquette.

There were moments when Henman shook his head in disbelief as - sometimes in mid-game - the barriers were suddenly opened to allow a throng of fans to burst into the stands. "Please take your seats quickly - and close the barriers," the exasperated umpire Bruno Rebeuh ordered, but he might as well have been talking to himself.

Henman's concentration has always been capricious but how do you concentrate when an aircraft taking off from La Guardia airport threatens to perforate your eardrums or someone in the crowd stands up behind your opponent as you are about to receive serve?

Understandably Henman's attention wavered at times but in general he maintained his composure remarkably well, staying solidly on top of Draper, the winner of the Stella Artois tournament at Queen's this year, despite the Australian's occasional ripping topspin ground strokes.

The court on which Henman won was formerly called The Grandstand. It is now more prosaically entitled No. 3, and rightly so for it is anything but a grand stand, built as it is as an adjunct to the old centre court, a sort of glorified three-sided lean-to.

It is rather shabby and decrepit, but has its own undeniable atmosphere which is very New York. "So who is this guy Henman?" "Henman? He's the Brit. He can beat anybody or lose to anybody." It is called cutting through the crap.

It was important for Henman to make his greater weight of shot count immediately and he achieved this in the fourth game when he broke Draper's serve. Not that this was entirely convincing. After fashioning three break points the British number two squandered the lot until a regal forehand down the line brought him a decisive 3-1 first-set lead.

Another break in the second took him into the comfort zone, but a double fault and an error of judgment, when he allowed a Draper return to drop inside the baseline, allowed the Australian to break back.

For the first time, a tangible uncertainty gripped Henman's play and Draper came within a whisker of taking the second set. But with Henman 15-40 down on his serve, Draper loosely drove an approach shot into the net with the court wide open.

So Henman survived and went on to take the first tie-break 7-4. Effectively that was the end for Draper.

Henman was not dismayed that his next opponent may be the Spanish clay-courter Felix Mantilla. "My attacking play will have to be better than his defensive play," said Henman. "But I am feeling pretty confident and the quicker courts should favour me."

Just a decent baseball hit away, the first major upset of the tournament was taking place with the fourth seed Petr Korda losing to qualifier Bernd Karbacher of Germany. Last year Korda knocked out Pete Sampras in the fourth round and earlier this year won his first and only Grand Slam title in Australia. In truth the Czech player's heart, to say nothing of his suspect limbs and head, have not been particularly focused since that scissor-kicking day in Melbourne.