BBC SPORT | AUSTRALIAN OPEN | Henman's wasted opportunity

BBC Sport Online's Colin Banks reports from day seven of the Australian Open, the day in which British interest ended.

Henman outplayed

Tim Henman's post-analysis report from the 2002 Australian Open will probably say - "wasted opportunity".

Despite displaying what he referred to as "his best form ever abroad" in the previous three rounds, his play was flat and lacking authority on Sunday as Jonas Bjorkman completely dominated him.

Henman will now return to the UK and take stock of the loss.

With his defeat, the bottom half of the draw is now wide open.

Bjorkman will now face fellow Swede Thomas Johansson, while 26th seed Jiri Novak will take on unheralded Stefan Koubek.

The statistics from the fourth round match revealed the story:

First serve points won
Henman languished down on 57%, while Bjorkman excelled on 80%.

Winners
Bjorkman's bold and aggressive play reaped huge rewards, with 48 winners compared to Henman's 29.

Volley winners
Bjorkman controlled the net with 71% of points won compared to Henman's 59%.

As Henman admitted after the match, Bjorkman was just too good and better than him in every part of his game.

Bjorkman - Mr Nice Guy

As a Brit, it would have been easy to take an instant dislike to Jonas Bjorkman after he destroyed the hopes a nation.

But it is impossible to do anything other than like Jonas, known as one of the nicest players on the circuit.

No matter who you speak to - ballboys, fellow players, officials, or the media - all agree that Jonas has an infectious personality, always joking and smiling off court.

He was a popular winner, but now he has to look at the task ahead, as opportunities like this do not come to players every day when they are nearing the end of their careers.

Jonas Bjorkman

Bjorkman is one of the most popular players on the circuit

"Hopefully I will get through. I think it's real open, though, as both Novak and Koubek have been playing better and better, and Johansson is going to be tough," Bjorkman told BBC Sport Online.

"He has been improving his game over the last 18 months and had a very good year last year.

"Once he got through his first round here, I think he became more relaxed and trusted his game more. So I think he will be very dangerous."

Thomas Johansson will be his quarter-final opponent on either Tuesday or Wednesday. "Thomas is a good friend, so if I had to lose to anyone, I would rather lose to him," added the Swede.

"I still need to play aggressive. I need to continue to play my game, come in off my returns and put pressure on him.

"Thomas is like me, though, as he is returning very well, so I need to serve well, too, and be sharp at the net."

He will now be looking to go one better than his previous best Australian Open, when he lost a tough quarter-final to Nicolas Kiefer in 1998.

Melbourne's balmy weather

Players and organisers alike had been waiting all week for temperatures to hot up.

It has been unseasonably cool in Melbourne this summer, with nothing like the on-court temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius experienced during the 1997 tournament.

Things seemed to be returning to normal on Sunday, though, when the temperature gun on Road Laver Arena recorded 36C at midday just before Henman's match was due to start.

Yet less than three hours later, the temperature had dropped dramatically to only 21C.

This doesn't help the players, who are essentially playing a match in severely different conditions.

It is no wonder that it is said that Melbourne can experience four seasons in one day.

The women retaliate

Marcelo Rios has described women's tennis as "a joke", reopening the debate between male and female players about the depth of quality in the women's game.

Marcelo Rios

Rios' comments sparked outrage
The women came out fighting on Sunday in response. Martina Hingis declared that if he played with her, he would change his mind.

"I think the depth in women's tennis has gotten so much better. There are so many girls out there who can play good tennis and give you a hard time," said the Swiss star.

"If you don't take it serious enough they can always beat you. I think if I played with him one time, he would change his mind."

It was after Hingis' 44-minute romp over Barbara Rittner on Friday night that Rios made his comments.

"He's had matches in the past when he beats people easily. In men's tennis it's easy to do if you have a big serve," added Hingis.

"In our tennis, it's just a little different. But I think we've raised our level a lot."

Martina Hingis

Hingis defends the standard of the women's game
Venus Williams also entered into the debate after her 6-0 6-3 destruction of Magdalena Maleeva on Sunday.

"Every single one of us in Melbourne worked hard to be here. We are here because we deserve it," said the American.

"It's just the same for the guys, so I think we all have just got to work together."

Williams admitted that there was a bigger gulf between the top women and the chasing pack, but that people liked seeing the top players in action by the second week of a Grand Slam.

"I think that the women's game is interesting enough. I feel that the top players take extreme pride in what we do," added Williams.

"Each time we walk on a court, whether it be the Australian Open or a smaller tournament, we always give our personal best."

"We don't slack at any time and we don't just bring our best game to the Slams like the men, we bring it to every event."


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