Tim Henman finally secured his place in the ATP Championship finals in Hanover this month when he defeated the 31-year-old Swede Magnus Gustafsson, 6-3 3-6 7-6, last night in the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open. It has been a long and winding road, and even at the end there were several nasty and slippery corners to negotiate.
The tension was plain for all to see as the home crowd willed their man to the verge of an upset in the same hall where Sweden, with Bjorn Bjorg at the helm, triumphed for the first time in the Davis Cup in 1975.
Henman was totally in control during the first set, save for the occasional blistering forehand which is Gustafsson's trademark. But thereafter his concentration drifted like the flurries of snow which fell on this city throughout the day.
He recovered one break of serve immediately in the second set but a poor overhead smash, with the soles of the shoes shrieking in complaint as he tried to get into position, led to a second loss of serve and Gustafsson duly locked him out of the second set.
The final set was a rattlebag of nerves, Henman taking a 4-2 lead and then losing it, before totally dominating the final tie-break 7-0. But even so it was a mighty close run thing.
Today Greg Rusedski will join Henman in the eight-man ATP finals, providing he wins his semifinal. Yesterday he defeated Daniel Nestor of Canada, ranked 115, in three error-strewn sets, 7-6 1-6 6-3.
During the first set, Rusedski tweaked a muscle in his buttock which clearly hampered him. Anti-inflammatory pills helped ease the pain, but he needed more treatment after the match, and later in the day.
"It was really frustrating but I thought I played well in the third set," said Rusedski who will wake up this morning and hope that the damage is slight and will not hamper him with Hanover so very close.
Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov won 6-1 6-1 in his quarter-final in Moscow against France's Guillaume Raoux, but the final place remains in Rusedski's hands. Or possibly his bottom.
Nestor and Rusedski were juniors together in Canada which added extra piquancy to yesterday's match. Rusedski covers up as quickly as an opening batsman facing the new ball when his past is mentioned, but there was doubt that the baggage of history played its part, as well as the injury.
Fight Nestor certainly did, forcing four break points in Rusedski's third service game, together with a worrying number of forced and unforced errors.
Initially Rusedski, no doubt still feeling the after-effects of last Sunday's momentous victory over Pete Sampras in the final of the Paris Indoor Open, struggled to generate any lasting urgency. His brain was demanding winners, but the co-ordination was incomplete.
Marcelo Rios's chances of reclaiming the world number one spot from Pete Sampras were dashed in a surprise defeat in the Chevrolet Cup in Santiago, Chile, early this morning. The Chilean, who needed to win his hometown tournament to knock Sampras off the top spot, was outgunned by Juan Antonio Marin of Costa Rica.
