Victorious Henman surprised by good form in 2007 opener

LAS VEGAS, Feb 28 (Reuters) Tim Henman admitted he had surprised even himself as he beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-1 6-2 in his opening round-robin match at the Las Vegas Open, his first match in four months.

The world number 37, whose start to the year was delayed by injury and illness, looked sharp and coped superbly with gusting winds to put himself in pole position to qualify for the quarter-finals yesterday.

''To really play as consistently as I did, to not drop serve and having not played competitively for so long, it was a little bit surprising, to be honest,'' the 32-year-old said.

Henman, who reached a career-high ranking of fourth in 2002, missed the Australian Open last month because of a knee injury.

Illness then kept him out of the ATP event in Rotterdam last week and a last-minute decision brought a wildcard for Las Vegas, only for the Briton to be struck down by another virus on his arrival.

''Friday night, Saturday I felt awful, I was feverish and not really enjoying my experience of Vegas,'' he said.

''But by Sunday, I came out here and hit for half an hour, started to feel better and then today I felt good on the court.'' Henman can book his place in the last eight with victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in his next match, but said he was not getting carried away on the back of one victory.

''I am just excited to be out on the court,'' he said. ''I still think a little bit cautiously having had the knee injury and been out for quite some time, but to be playing with no pain and moving better and better is the most important thing.'' Reuters PM VP0852