Tennis: Tim Henman crashed out of the Australian Open with a 5-7 6-3 6-4 7-5 defeat to Dmitry Tursunov on the opening day of the tournament in Melbourne.
The Russian had knocked the British number one out of Wimbledon last year and was a worthy winner this time around as Henman failed to find his rhythm.
Henman had a glorious chance to take the match into a fifth set, racing into a 5-1 lead in the fourth before Tursunov won the final six games of the first-round clash.
Henman was immediately under pressure, with Tursunov taking a 3-1 lead in the first set after breaking the 31-year-old early on.
Despite the setback, Henman fought back to take the opening set 7-5 after Tursunov had failed to convert set points in two different games.
Seizing his chance to snatch the lead, Henman produced an exquisite top-spin lob to take the opener.
However, Henman did not look convincing and failed to take advantage of his lead. Tursunov was broken in the first game of the second set, but then broke back twice and eventually won 6-3.
Then in the third set Henman had another chance to establish a lead, breaking the Russian to go 4-3 up only to get broken himself and eventually lose the set.
The match looked to be going into a decider as Henman cruised to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, but the impressive Tursunov did not let his opponent settle and fought back to win it 7-5.