For the second time in three years Tim Henman reached the last 16 at the US Open, although what began as a smooth, third-round ride against the German qualifier Michael Kohlmann hit a customary mid-flight spell of severe turbulance. Henman eventually won 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 to his obvious relief.
Henman frequently has trouble against unregarded players. Kohlmann, ranked number 149, had already won five matches, three during qualifying, before yesterday morning's encounter and had every right to feel a little jaded, which made Henman's third-set dip particularly unsatisfactory.
In the end all was well and Henman was able to enjoy his 24th birthday, unlike Greg Rusedski, 25 yesterday, who had slumped to a miserable third-round defeat against Holland's Jan Siemerink the previous day, thereby losing his British number one spot to Henman.
Rusedski, beaten in the final by Australia's Pat Rafter last year, is not by nature given to long spells of pessimism, but there was no hiding his disappointment. His voice was husky and there was a dullness in his eyes which suggested that the five-setter against Siemerink, his third in succession, had taken him close to physical exhaustion.
More explicitly he knew he should have beaten the 28-year-old Dutchman who, in his eight years on the professional circuit, has only twice managed to progress to the last 16 of a Grand Slam.
Having established a two-sets-to-one lead, the odds appeared heavily in Rusedski's favour, despite the quality of his tennis being extremely patchy. Time and again, having delivered a backhand return into the net, he went through the motions of re-playing the shot, screwing up his brow with a mixture of concentration and annoyance.
But such mental exertions had no effect. Siemerink, whose temperament tends to split like slate under pressure, hit a dozen double faults, many at crucial times, but Rusedski was only able to take temporary advantage.
A foot fault in the fourth set, which led to Rusedski being broken, sent him into a huge rage born of frustration. It is his serve, principally, that has kept him in the top 10 for a year, and this most potent of weapons has been functioning only spasmodically since he arrived in New York.
Had he defeated either South Africa's Wayne Ferreira or Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in straight sets in the two previous rounds, Rusedski might have reached the fourth round, but his chances of further progress were strictly limited because of this lack of match play.
Meanwhile Swiss world number one Martina Hingis and former number-one Monica Seles ousted unseeded rivals in swirling winds yesterday to set up an intriguing quarter-final showdown against each other. Defending champion Hingis defeated France's 64th-ranked Nathalie Dechy 6-4, 6-4 in 80 minutes while sixth-seeded Seles took just 18 minutes longer to beat 65th-ranked fellow-American Kimberly Po 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Steffi Graf crashed out when she was beaten in straight-sets by Switzerland's Patty Schnyder last night.
The eighth-seeded German player had her chances to come back in the second set but finally went down 6-3, 6-4 in 59 minutes.
Schnyder, seeded eleven and the winner of five titles so far this year, now plays Wimbledon champion and third-seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic for a place in the semi-finals. The Czech veteran beat ninth-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania 6-3, 6-3.
Graf was playing in her first US Open since missing most of last season and the start of this season after knee surgery. It was her earliest exit at the tournament since losing her US Open debut in 1984. Graf had only once since then failed to reach the semi-finals here.
