Henman in but Ferrero waits

Tim Henman was due to get his French Open campaign under way against Frenchman Cyril Saulnier today as organisers anxiously waited to discover if defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was going to take part.

Henman, seeded nine, reached the last eight and won the doubles at the Monte Carlo Masters and made it to the third round of the Telecom Italia Masters.

However, a virus hampered the British No1's progress in Hamburg, where he lost in the second round, but at least he is in better shape than Ferrero, who has bruised ribs.

Ferrero believes there is a 60 per cent chance he will pull out of tomorrow's match with German Tommy Haas. He said: "It's a tough decision for me because I want to play, but I'm still having problems."

The fourth-seeded Spaniard, who has been hampered by a wrist injury since the start of the season, pulled out of the Hamburg Masters earlier this month. Rib pain has also prevented him from training properly at Roland Garros.

In the women's section, defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne has not competed for nearly two months because of a virus, Venus Williams twisted her left ankle two weeks ago and last year's runner-up, Kim Clijsters, has been ruled out by a wrist injury.