Tennis: Henman Beaten By Hewitt in Semi-final

Some players have the measure of particular rivals. Tim Henman has Roger Federer's; Lleyton Hewitt has Henman's.

Less than 24 hours after Henman had scored one of his most impressive victories by beating Federer, the world number one, in the Rotterdam indoor event, he lost in two disappointingly uneventful sets to Hewitt, the former world number one, yesterday afternoon.

Henman's 6-3 7-6 win over Federer, previously unbeaten in 2004, was his sixth victory over Switzerland's Wimbledon champion in seven meetings. His 6-3 6-3 semi-final loss to Hewitt was his seventh in seven confrontations with the 2002 Wimbledon winner.

Federer believes it is Henman's willingness to keep on attacking him that gives him the edge. The 22-year-old is engagingly ready to discuss his vulnerability, something that less assured players might regard as giving the enemy unnecessary information. 'I feel that the person who is more aggressive wins,' said the Swiss. 'Over the past few years I've always felt the same and I've always lost to guys who keep on coming, like Max [Mirnyi], Tim today, and [Nicolas] Escude.'

Hewitt's ascendancy over Henman, which includes a drubbing in the 2002 Wimbledon semi-final, seems to be total, which is surprising because Henman has beaten just about everyone else in the top 20 from time to time. He has rarely come close against the Australian, though, winning only two of the 17 sets they have now contested.

Even so, Henman was determinedly upbeat after his latest loss. 'I couldn't be more excited with the direction my game is going,' he said. 'I know I am on the way and my service has really improved. Nine months ago I used to lose my service twice in a set and that is not happening anymore but Lleyton just had all the answers today to my game plan and I think he really played well.'

Hewitt has a keen appreciation of how to limit Henman's shot-making, and did so particularly well yesterday, keeping the ball low and to the Briton's feet. Henman was for ever having to dig the ball out and Hewitt, particularly on the backhand, whipped over a succession of brilliant passes.

Given Hewitt's hold over Henman, the pressure was on him from the start and it showed when he dropped serve in the third game, the score reaching 30-all before Henman's fickle forehand let him down twice. As the opening set neared its conclusion, Henman's serve became increasingly ragged, his first-serve percentage dropping below 40, and Hewitt broke again in the ninth game to claim the set.

Just how fickle that forehand is was never better illustrated than by an error from it to hand Hewitt the first set and then three breathtaking winners from it at the start of the second that earned him his only break of the Hewitt serve. But having forged ahead 2-0, after salvaging two break points in the second game, Henman lost the next three games as the Australian worked him over with some thrilling cross-court passes. The break that levelled at 2-2 was accompanied by the only 'C'mon' of the afternoon from Hewitt. He seemed to know he had ended Henman's attempt at a revival.

The accuracy and power of Hewitt's ground strokes fed Henman's uncertainty about attacking the net and he suffered a crushing blow when he was broken to love by a fusillade of Hewitt winners from the back of the court. That made it 5-3 to the sixth seed. The next game was a formality.

Despite the defeat, Henman will still have happy memories of Rotterdam, where he has reached three finals. By making it to the semi-final this time, he was justified in counting his latest visit another success even if he and his American coach Paul Annacone have to work something out for the next occasion they encounter Hewitt.