Henman crashes out

Tim Henman was on a flight home from New York today after his US Open defeat at the hands of Andy Roddick.

Henman joined Davis Cup team-mate Greg Rusedski as a first-round casualty at Flushing Meadows when he lost to the fourth-seeded American 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

He immediately hailed Roddick as "the leader in the world game right now".

The British No1 went into the contest in the early hours today with his hopes high, on the back of a recent win over Roddick. But this time he found the 20-year-old's booming 140mph serve too powerful to handle.

"In my opinion, he's playing better tennis than anyone in the world right now," Henman said. "You know he is going to be very tough to beat. He's so confident.

"I don't know what his first-serve percentage was, but he served very, very well. When you've got a weapon like that, and you're backing it up with a big forehand, it's very tough to play against."

Henman blew his chance of an upset win when failing to serve out for the second set at 5-4 up. "The second set was the key," he said.

"I felt like my game was very close to making life awkward for him. At one set all, it's anyone's match. At two sets to love, Andy's confidence is only going in one direction."