Henman and Rusedski out of US Open
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. The annual British bid to take Flushing Meadows by storm ended with a familiar whimper last night as both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski were knocked out of the US Open in the third round.
Rusedski, the No33 seed, lost an epic five-set match with Pete Sampras, while the fifth-seed Henman bowed out in tame fashion, beaten in straight sets by the Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela. His shoulder injury, it seems, finally caught up with him.
Rusedski had come through a marathon tussle in the previous round to beat Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand. But he narrowly failed to improve on a miserable record against the seven-times Wimbledon champion Sampras, who has now won nine of their 10 encounters after this 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4 victory.
Rusedski, though, was hardly gracious in defeat: "I tried my best. But unfortunately, when it counted, I gave him a little too much respect.
"I mean, he's not playing that great. I'd be surprised if he wins his next match. To be honest with you, I'd be very surprised.
"It's very disappointing. There's no other way to put it. This is a Grand Slam. I thought I played well at Wimbledon - didn't take my opportunity there. I mean, this I thought I had a great opportunity again.
"I've just got to look at the positive and say 'I'm playing well, feeling fit, feeling strong.' Next year, 2003, I've really got to get it together at the majors and try to push it stronger, do better."
Sampras will now face third-seeded German Tommy Haas, who beat Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Sampras said: "I feel pretty good. I feel like it's a tough match. Playing Greg is difficult. You don't get a ton of rhythm. It's kind of hit-and-miss tennis. You kind of hang in there against Greg.
"I thought he played pretty flawless. Really mixed up his serves, first and second. He kind of had me guessing a lot the whole match.
"I thought Greg played well. I thought he handled the nerves well."
Henman, though, didn't even have the consolation of playing well. His serve was broken twice in the first set, once in the second and twice in the third as Chela took advantage of a below-par performance to win 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
"When I'm serving, I can't get any release from my shoulder or my elbow," said Henman. "Any sort of upward movement is when I get the impingement.
"I think he played very, very well. I didn't give myself much of a chance under the circumstances. It certainly wasn't getting better.
"It's a different type of disappointment. When you go out and you're healthy and you're 100 per cent, that I feel is the most disappointment. I gave it a try and it wasn't successful."
Elsewhere in the men's draw, top seed Lleyton Hewitt and the sixth-seed Andre Agassi both enjoyed comfortable fourth-round wins.
Australian Hewitt beat Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 while Agassi thrashed fellow American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
On the women's side, third-seed Jennifer Capriati and fourth-seed Lindsay Davenport also recorded emphatic fourth-round victories.
Capriati beat fellow American Amy Frazier 6-1 6-3 while Davenport powered past Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 6-3 6-1.