Cincinnati (USA), Aug 12: Guillermo Coria, one of the hottest players on tour this summer, moved into the second round at the 2.45 million-dollar Tennis Masters series - Cincinnati with a hard fought 6-3 4-6 6-4 victory over Tim Henman of Britain.
Having won three consecutive clay court events at Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel and Sopot last month - without losing a set in 15 straight matches - the fifth-ranked Coria retired in his first round match last week in Montreal.
Explaining his quick departure from Montreal Masters series, Coria said: "I was tired, and I didn't want to get hurt.

"Because I came from a really long tournament, I just wanted to get some rest."
Now feeling rested and confident, the Argentine proved to be crafty enough to handle the change of surfaces to hard courts this week despite a concerted effort by Henman to upend the 21-year-old yesterday.



"I've been playing a lot lately, so that inspires me to play better," said Coria, who now has a 2-1 career edge over Henman. "So that's why I've been doing so well lately. It was really hard [today] but thank God I got to break the serve and I just won."



A finalist here in 2000, the 32nd-ranked Henman has been fighting to regain the top 10 form he possessed prior to shoulder surgery last November.


Bureau Report