Henman through to Monte Carlo semis

Tim Henman reached the semi-finals of the Masters Series event in Monte Carlo this evening with a win over Thomas Johansson.

The British number one and fourth seed made the perfect start against the Australian Open champion, breaking serve in the opening game of the match.

But the Swede broke straight back, taking four games in a row, and eventually took the opening set 6-2.

Henman had not held serve during the entire first set against a player who had never won a match at the Monte Carlo Country Club before this year in five previous visits.

But the world number five had gained huge confidence from his three earlier wins this week over clay court specialists, particularly when coming back from a set and 4-1 down in the first round.

The 27-year-old was a different prospect in the second set and hit back to take it 6-4 and level the match.

As expected, the third set turned into a tight struggle with Henman appearing to have made the decisive move when he broke to lead 6-5.

The Wimbledon semi-finalist held two match points at 40-15 as he tried to serve out for victory, but Johansson clung on to level the scores and force a decisive tie-break.

Henman could have been forgiven for dwelling on his lost opportunities but after Johansson took the first point, the Briton took five of the next six points to lead 5-2.

The Swede continued to battle and saved two more match points, but Henman was not to be denied and eventually served out to take the match 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4).