At Henman's first clay tournament of 2005, the Monte-Carlo Masters, he lost in the first round to Argentinian Mariano Zabaleta, 4–6, 6–4, 2–6. Henman improved his clay record that year by reaching the third round at both the Italian Open and the Hamburg Masters, but he disappointed his fans by being defeated by Peruvian Luis Horna in the second round of the French Open in four sets, 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 4–6. In contrast to the clay season, the grass season began well, with Henman reaching the quarter-finals at the Queen's Club Championships, losing to Swedish Thomas Johansson, 4–6, 4–6. However, after defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the Wimbledon Championship, he lost in the second round to Russian Dmitry Tursunov in five sets, 6–3, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 6–8. His hard court season was not much better; Henman was defeated in the first or second round in all the remaining tournaments he participated in that year. At the US Open he lost to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets, 4–6, 2–6, 2–6. At his last match of the year, Henman was beaten by Britain's rising tennis star Andy Murray in the first round in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 7–6.