Henman hopes to make up for lost time

Tim Henman was due to return to action in Rotterdam today more than three weeks after his disappointing exit from the Australian Open.

Henman has not played since losing to Russian Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets in Melbourne.

A back problem forced the British No1 to miss the Marseille Open but he is now fit enough to take on Nicolas Kiefer.

Henman, ranked seven in the world, was anticipating a difficult match and said: "Nicolas is a tough competitor and a very talented player. He has the ability to beat anybody on his day and he was in great form last year before getting injured against me at the US Open."

Henman has beaten Kiefer six times during his career and lost three. The last time he played in this event he reached the semi-finals. "This week is very important, not only in terms of doing well here but also in building up confidence ahead of the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami," Henman said. "The beginning of the year has been a bit frustrating. I've spent most of the time on the practice court. If you don't play matches it's easy to fall behind."

Guillermo Coria displayed his growing maturity on fast surfaces with a swift 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over local favourite Raemon Sluiter. The second-seeded Argentine will next face Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, who was a 7-6, 1-6, 7-5 winner over Russian Igor Andreev.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, beaten in last year's rotterdam final by Lleyton Hewitt, began his challenge with a 6-4, 6-2 demolition of Germany's Rainer Schuettler.