No sweat for shining Henman

Down on the south coast, rare is the fan who can put a face to the number two seed's name, even though Dominik Hrbaty made the final in Paris last week.

After him the highest ranked player still in the draw is Vladimir Voltchkov, 56th in the Champions' Race, who beat Britain's Luke Milligan 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 last night.

Other names through to the last 16 include Renzo Furlan, Diego Nargiso and Ivan Ljubicic, all of whom might reasonably be asked for identification in their own countries.

Aside from Rusedski's first round encounter with Paul Goldstein, today's feast of tennis includes James Sekulov against Hyung-Taik Lee. Little wonder Henman admitted to knowing little in advance of Tabara. He is only marginally more familiar with Raemon Sluiter, the man up next.

The roll-call of unfamiliar names may be amusing to some but not the organisers. Now that the ATP London tournament - the February joust held in Battersea Park then the London Arena over the past three years - has died a death, British tennis needs a strong winter tournament.

The Samsung Open used to be held on the clay courts of Bournemouth immediately after the US Open and moved to the fast indoor courts at Brighton only this year. But it seems to have been adversely affected by its scheduling the week before the season finale, the Masters Cup in Lisbon.

It really is a shame. The 1,200 or so spectators who paid to see Henman last night were not present in sufficient numbers to pack the place out but the sound they made revealed their heartfelt commitment. This was not the artificial hooting of the modern Davis Cup crowd but rather the oohs and aahs of knowledgeable pleasure in watching the sport played with skill, even if not by top names of the game. Even Tabara had his moments and the crowd enjoyed them.

Despite that, the scoreline might have been even more impressive had the Briton's interest not wandered midway through the second set.

At 3-0 and with two breaks already under his belt, a whitewash was beckoning. When Tabara sprinted across court to convert a Henman dropshot into an improbable winner, it paved the way not just to a game on the scoreboard for the Czech, but a break of serve no less.

A similar loss of concentration later in the week could prove embarrassing for Henman when he comes up against those players ranked around 50, against whom he has proved vulnerable in the past. On paper, though, he should be disappointed if he does not win his second title of the year come Sunday.

"You're right, 6-0, 6-0 would have been better," he admitted.

"But I can't have too many complaints. I am aware of my record in British tournaments this year and I want to put it right. Winning small events like this can only help me when the bigger ones come around."

He did not say if he has visited the outlet bearing the name Jane Henman among the display stands in the foyer. The mother of the British No 1 designs tennis gear and among her stock is a T-shirt bearing the legend "I'm practising for Wimbledon".

Henman has yet to be seen wearing such an outfit, perhaps because he still hopes that actually this week is not so much practice for SW19 or even the Australian Open two months hence, but the Masters Cup. As second reserve, Henman must rely on a lack of either health or inclination among two of the eight players who have qualified.

It is not so unlikely. There is never any forecasting what Andre Agassi will do, while Pete Sampras has not lifted a tennis racket in anger since Marat Safin beat him in the US Open final in September.

Since then Sampras's waning interest in competition has been further eroded by the pleasures of newly-married life. Scheduled to compete in Stuttgart and Paris these past few weeks, the Wimbledon champion appeared materialised in neither.

Henman's fingers are crossed for a glamorous end to the season. Meantime, the unglamorous but worthy Samsung Open needs him. Badly.