Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski are set to face each other for just the sixth time ever time in their pro careers in the quarter-finals of the Australian Hardcourt Championships. Henman currently leads the series 3-2, thanks to a victory at the same event last year.
"Yeah, it's our annual affair," said Henman. "It's going to be interesting. He's been playing well. We're both playing well. There's always that little extra something on the match. Being from the same country, it's the same for anyone, a Swede, a Spaniard or an Australian. We both know each other's game inside out and there aren't too many hidden secrets. It's one of those cases of who plays best on the day, it's as simple as that," added the top seed for the tournament, which acts as a warm-up for the Australian Open.
Rusedski says that he is looking forward to facing Henman. "I'm playing better now than I did last year at this time. Neither one of us wants to lose, it's a little bit of a grudge match. There's a lot of pride at stake whenever you play someone from your own country. It's going to depend a lot on how I serve. Both of us played here last year, and I am really looking forward to it. For any player, it's a matter of pride and I'm sure neither one of us wants to come out on the wrong end on that one," he said.
In the other quarter finals, former US Open finalist Mark Philippoussis will face American Todd Martin, third-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist will take on Spain's Alberto Martin and Croatia's eighth seed Ivan Ljubicic will face the winner of Morocco's fourth seed Hicham Arazi and France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Meanwhile, World number one Lleyton Hewitt has been laid low by chicken pox just eleven days before the start of the Australian Open. The 20-year-old has withdrawn from the Hopman Cup in Perth.
Filed by Greg McKevitt
