Henman Maintains Momentum to Secure Semi Spot

Tim Henman marched into the semi-finals of the Zagreb indoor tournament thanks to a straight-sets win over Italian Andreas Seppi. The British No1, who is enjoying an upturn in fortunes following his disappointing first-round exit at last month’s Australian Open, completed a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory in one hour and 26 minutes.

Henman broke the unheralded Seppi twice in the first set before doing the same early in the second and a string of steady service games saw him home.

Now ranked 43rd in the world, Henman came into the match on the back of a morale-boosting straight-sets triumph over rising star Richard Gasquet on Wednesday. His confidence clearly returning after a sluggish start to the fledgling 2006 season, he immediately imposed himself on Seppi and broke the Italian’s opening service game.

Having stretched his lead to 3-1, Henman was broken himself in the fifth game before being pegged back to 3-3 by Seppi, who had claimed his place in the last eight with a three-set win over French Open junior champion Marin Cilic yesterday. However, Henman stepped up a gear and reeled off three straight games to take the first set with the minimum of fuss.

The second set was a tighter affair, but Henman always held the whip hand thanks to his early break of serve. Serving 2-1 ahead, the Briton was taken to deuce by Seppi but held on to take the game and was rarely troubled thereafter.

His only wobble came in the clinching game when he went 30-15 down. But Henman rattled off three consecutive points to take the win and secure a semi-final clash with either home favorite Ivo Karlovic or Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek.

"It’s been a while. Last year I made quite a few quarter-finals at the beginning of the year but I wasn’t able to take advantage of any of those opportunities," said Henman. "Thankfully, I’ve been able to do that this week and it feels good to still be involved in the business end of an event.

"I like the conditions here as I feel they suit my game and I’m gaining in confidence with each win. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the week so far but I’m not done yet - I want to take advantage of the fact that I’m through to the semi-finals and make the most of the situation."