Henman, Johansson into quarterfinals

Henman, Johansson into quarterfinals
Marie McInerney

Adelaide, January 4: World No 10 Tim Henman cruised into the quarterfinals of the Australian men's hardcourt championships on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over American veteran Jeff Tarango.

Despite the sizzling on-court heat, second seed Henman continued the strong form he produced late in 2000 to book a final eight berth against Sweden's Thomas Johansson. Johansson, the seventh seed, also eased into the quarterfinals, beating Germany's Christian Vinck 7-5 6-3.

Henman, who won ATP titles last year in Brighton and Vienna and knocked out compatriot Greg Rusedski in the first round here, overpowered the 112th ranked Tarango in one hour and seven minutes as the offcourt temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius.

"When it's hot like this, it makes conditions pretty fast as well, and that suits me nicely," Henman said.

The British No. 1 dominated the court, taking th efirst set easily and breaking the Left-handed American in the fifth game of the second.

He lost concentration in the next game, missing a couple of forehand shots and let Tarango back into play, but recovered quickly for a convincing second round win.

The Briton has his eye on a good showing at the Australian Open, which starts in Melbourne on January 15, but he also detects serious danger from Johansson on Friday.

The Swede won his hometown tournament in Stockholm in the ATP's last tournament of 2000 to finish the year ranked 39th.

"He's obviously playing well here, I think we both fancyour chances," Henman said. (Reuters)