Rome, May 05: Tim Henman's hopes of gaining match practice in Rome came to a sorry end as Guillermo Coria sent the British number one crashing out in the first round.
Henman had been expected to give the 15th seed a tough workout, but the in-form Coria was always in control and ran out a 6-2 6-1 winner. The Briton was let down by his serve, with his first serve percentage barely reaching 50%.
Coria, a finalist at the Monte Carlo Masters last month, showed the form which has seen him reach the world's top 20 in recent weeks. The Argentine was superior from the baseline and consistently passed Henman when the Briton ventured to the net.
However, Henman's hopes of being seeded for the French Open did receive a boost on Monday as he moved up three places in the ATP rankings to 28th. The top 32 players in the world will be seeded.
Elsewhere, Ivan Ljubicic moved comfortably into the second round with a 6-2 6-4 win over Xavier Malisse.


Bureau Report