Henman loses to rookie in Washington
Tim Henman's miserable year continued as he failed recapture his glory days of 2003 at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, going down to rookie John Isner.
American wild card Isner ousted him 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the first round of the £300,000 hardcourt event.
Feeling the heat: Tim Henman wipes his face during his defeat in Washington
Henman defeated Fernando Gonzalez of Chile to win here in 2003, the last year he hoisted a championship trophy.
He also won in Paris later that year, but has appeared in just two finals since, losing on both occasions to world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Henman, 32, put up a fight before finally falling to the 22-year-old, who is ranked 419th in the world.
Trailing 5-4 in the third set, Henman faced match point at 15-40 but reeled off four consecutive points to remain in the tie.
Still seeking his first quarter-final appearance of the season, Henman is ranked 73rd in the world and remains British number two behind Andy Murray.
Henman had better fortunes with India's Mahesh Bhupathi in the doubles competition yesterday as the pair advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win against Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea and American Michael Russell Henman, 32, reacted to his defeat with dismay.
He told BBC Online: "To come up short is always frustrating. It's tough when you lose by just a few points,"
But Isner, in his ATP hard court debut was delighted with his efforts against a player he has a great deal of respect for.
"To come up with a win against a player like Tim is awesome," he said. "It's kind of surreal for me, like a dream come true."
Meanwhile, Henman's fellow Brit Elena Baltacha is also out of the women's tournament after second seed Olga Savchuk progressed at her expense.
The Ukrainian player lost the first set to Baltacha 3-6 but won the next two 6-3 6-3 to wrap up the win.
