Henman Falls at First Hurdle

Tim Henman's poor form continued as he crashed out of the Masters Series event in Cincinnati with a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 defeat to Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela.

The first set went against Henman 6-4 but the British No2 forced a break in the fourth game of the second set to move 3-1 up.

Chela broke straight back but Henman did likewise in the sixth game to make it 4-2 and held in game seven to put himself in charge.

Chela held but Henman then successfully served out to love to win the set 6-3. He had a break point on the Chela serve in the first game of the third set but the Argentinian held.

The next opportunity presented itself to Chela in the eighth game and he took it to move 5-3 up before promptly serving out for the match.

The defeat meant Henman has still won just three ATP Tour matches all year.

It was the second straight first-round loss for Henman, who was defeated by American John Isner in the opening round at Washington two weeks ago.

The 32-year-old - beaten in this event last year by fellow Briton Andy Murray - managed five aces but committed six double-faults in the contest, which lasted one hour and 52 minutes.