TENNIS: Tim Henman condemned a frustrated Andy Murray to his ninth first round exit of the year with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory in an all-British clash at the Thailand Open yesterday. It took the former British number one 55 minutes to win the first set after allowing Murray to crawl back into the match after taking a 5-2 lead. The Scottish teenager had beaten Henman on two previous occasions at Masters tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati, but a heavy competition schedule looked to have taken its toll.
Murray, who reached the final here last year where he lost to Roger Federer, staved off four set points before giving way in the first. Henman then dominated the second set, varying his game and keeping his composure as Murray grew more and more frustrated by his own performance.
Former world number one Marat Safin of Russia got past a tough first round test against Kevin Kim of the United States, going through 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
In other first round action, Germany's Rainer Schuettler beat Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik 6-1, 6-4 and fifth seed Jarkko Nieminen saw off Argentina's Edgardo Massa 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
SQUASH: Sligo's Aisling Blake clinched Ireland a place in the quarter-finals of the World Team Squash Championships in Canada by winning the deciding game in the pool tie against Hong Kong. Her victory sets up a meeting with fourth seeds The Netherlands today.
Laura Mylotte had put Ireland, seeded ninth in the tournament, 1-0 up against the eighth-ranked nation but Madeline Perry, lost in straight sets to put the pressure on Blake. She responded by beating Christina Mak, without dropping a set, in 39 minutes. Top seeds England won Ireland's pool and will play New Zealand in the last eight today but defending champions Australia, as well as hosts Canada, failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since the event began in 1979.
