Tim Henman was well below his best as he crashed out of the Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Califpornia 6-4 6-4 to Nicolas Lapentti in the third round. The British number one, who had won their two previous meetings on the ATP Tour, made numerous unforced errors and rarely threatened the Ecuador player.
Henman did break Lapentti's opening service game to take a 2-0 lead, but his opponent hit straight back to draw level. Lapentti, who also lost to Henman when Ecuador beat Britain in the Davis Cup last year, then broke the 10th seed again in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead before surviving two break points to take the first set.
The second set went with serve until a string of Henman errors in the seventh game handed Lapentti a break. Henman forced a break point of his own when Lapentti served for the match at 5-4, but was unable to capitalise. (PA)
Filed by Shane Murray
