Henman eases past first round in Melbourne

Tim Henman moved impressively into the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over Jean-Rene Lisnard…

Tim Henman moved impressively into the second round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets victory over Jean-Rene Lisnard of France today.

The British number one will now face Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic after entertaining a vocal crowd on Margaret Court Arena with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Henman, seeded 11, had only met Lisnard once before, on the hard courts at Adelaide four years ag,  and had won that game  in three sets.

He entered the Australian Open boasting impressive form after a win at the Paris Masters in October and a semi-final appearance in Doha last week.

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Henman missed last year's Australian Open through injury and his finest performance to date was a fourth-round appearance in 2002.