Henman crashes out in Madrid

12 April 2012

Tim Henman let victory slip from within his grasp as fourth seed David Nalbandian advanced to the Madrid Masters quarter-finals.

The British number two was 5-3 ahead in the deciding set of his third-round match against the Argentinian. However, he dropped four consecutive games to bow out and see Nalbandian improve his record in their head-to-head clashes to five wins in six meetings, this being their first match since 2003.

Having ousted Spanish pair Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer to reach the last 16, unseeded Henman's run ended with a 6-2 2-6 7-5 defeat.

Awarded a wild card by tournament organisers, following his run to the Japan Open final earlier this month, 32-year-old Henman exceeded most expectations by reaching this stage.

He spoke on Tuesday of perhaps playing on until the age of 37, however Nalbandian, 24, was determined that this should be Henman's final match of the week.

It took the former Wimbledon runner-up little time to sweep through the first set, however Henman then broke immediately in the next to give the match a different complexion.

That became a double break as Henman found the form he had been lacking early in the match, and the pair were soon into a deciding set.

They shared the opening four games before Henman made his move, breaking and then maintaining the break to the point where Nalbandian had to serve to stay in the match at 5-3 down.

He achieved that aim, and then Henman failed to serve out which meant the pair were locked together at 5-5, the Brit's advantage suddenly lost.

The momentum was with his opponent, and Nalbandian took advantage of Henman's faltering performance to make sure of his place in the next round, where Russian Marat Safin awaits.

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