For the fourth time in his career, outside his home patch at Wimbledon, Tim Henman reached the last 16 of a grand slam with an idiosyncratic 6-3, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 win over the very ordinary Australian Wayne Arthurs. Victory tomorrow over the altogether more talented and charismatic Pat Rafter in the Australian Open is essential if Henman is to begin to rid himself of the "talented but flawed" tag which many of his fellow professionals apply to him at this level.
Rafter, who has a habit of referring to Henman when among British journalists as "your little Timmy", summed up that estimation by saying: "He can play very, very well but he does have his lapses, so there is always a chance."
It was Australia's Evonne Goolagong who was famous for her walkabouts when her lack of concentration led to extravagant lapses. In today's altogether more fast and furious men's game, a 30-second switch-off may lead to the loss of a set, or a match, and Henman's levels of mental application have persistently made life difficult for him, notably against players of much less ability.
During yesterday's horrid third set against Arthurs one almost expected to hear a voice come over the public-address system requesting Mr Tim Henman to please return to the Rod Laver stadium. This was not so much a walkabout as a vanishing act.
Henman lost his serve three times in succession and was within half an inch of losing it a fourth time, which might have been terminal. A slightly rushed forehand, with the court wide open, prevented Arthurs taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth set and thereafter the reprieved man showed no mercy.
It had been an extremely hot day, so much so that Germany's David Prinosil, whose pulse was racing in the stifling conditions, pulled out of his third-round match against Andre Agassi, the defending champion, when trailing 7-6, 5-0.
Agassi has been in startlingly good form, the complete opposite of Pete Sampras, and was equally verbally acute yesterday. When asked what he thought about Yevgeny Kafelnikov's suggestions that tennis players were grossly underpaid at the grand slams he replied: "My feelings are, he should take the prize money and go buy some perspective."
Meanwhile, Belgium may not register among the world's great tennis nations, but with two women through to the last 16 it isn't doing too badly. Kim Clijsters, who rejoices in the title of Belgian number one, set up a fourth-round meeting with Lindsay Davenport after demolishing Spain's Nuria Llagostera 6-0, 6-1 yesterday and is fast becoming one of Australia's most reluctant celebrities.
Despite the fact that Clijsters is a genuinely exciting young talent in the women's game, she has spent most of this week fielding questions about her boyfriend, Lleyton Hewitt. Yes, she says, it is remarkable how alike they look, and yes, they could be brother and sister, and no, she isn't distracted by having to spend her spare time watching his matches.
Elsewhere, Monica Seles, who could meet Davenport in the semi-finals, moved into the fourth round with a scrappy 6-3, 7-5 win over France's Emilie Loit.
