Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 11 March 2007 /

Tim Henman will prepare for his Davis Cup comeback after crashing out at the first hurdle in the Indian Wells Masters Series.

The former British number one looked short of match sharpness as he went out in three sets to Czech Jan Hernych (7-5 3-6 7-5).
Playing only his third match of 2007, Henman dropped the first set after a shaky start.

But he found his rhythm in the second set to level, and led Hernych 5-4 after two breaks of serve in the third.
But the Czech broke back and then made it 6-5, putting pressure on Henman to hold his serve, and he double-faulted at 30-30 to gift Hernych the match point he needed.

The 32-year-old later said: "The biggest positive I can take is that I'm feeling healthy and am physically in good shape so I just need to be a bit more patient with my match play."

Henman, who announced earlier this year he wanted to be considered for Davis Cup selection again, will link up with British number one Andy Murray in the men's doubles at Indian Wells.

Britain's new Davis Cup captain John Lloyd has high hopes for the pairing, who he would like to harness for next month's Euro-African Zone One tie against the Netherlands in Birmingham.

"I'm looking forward to it and the more time I can spend on court at this stage the better, whether it is singles or doubles," said Henman.

"It works well for me to get some more matches and it's another chance to try a few different options ahead of the Davis Cup."
Murray (1.09) is the favourite in Betfair's match betting market for tonight's second round clash with Wesley Moodie (10.5) at the Pacific Life Open.

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