Seventh seed Tim Henman's unhappy run at the Australian Open continued when he was upset 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 by Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the third round on Saturday, ending British hopes in the tournament.
Henman surrendered a surprisingly one-sided match in just 126 minutes against Davydenko, who had never made it past the second round in two previous visits to Melbourne but has now reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 30-year-old admitted he had been outplayed by 26th seed Davydenko after joining British qualifier Elena Baltacha as a third round casualty.
Baltacha had become the first British woman since Clare Wood in 1991 to reach the last 32 but she was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by Italian 15th seed Silvia Farina Elia on Friday.
"I heard Baltacha say she got her arse kicked yesterday and unfortunately I fell into the same bracket," Henman said.
"I definitely didn't play my best but I certainly wasn't allowed to play the way I would like to," he said.
Henman began badly when he shanked a forehand out of court to hand the speedy Davydenko a break of serve in the opening game to set the tone for a dismal display.
"It's not ideal to lose your serve in the first game. You've got to keep fighting and produce something a little bit better and hopefully it will turn around, but his level never dropped," a stunned Henman said.
One the Briton's few bright moments came early in the second set when Henman, wrong-footed after a poor volley was punished, stuck his racket behind his back and luckily made enough contact to push the ball past Davydenko.
The contest quickly slipped away from the former French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open semi-finalist, who has played in Melbourne nine times since 1996 but has reached the fourth round only three times.
BAD DAY
However, he vowed to return to Melbourne in an attempt to improve his record.
"I'm not going to deny that this was definitely a bad day at the office," Henman said.
"I want to do better than the fourth round. I don't think that's good enough. It's not going to deter me from coming back for a few more years to try and improve on that."
The subdued Briton lost his serve twice in the second set as Davydenko grew in confidence and forced Henman to play the ball at his feet or at the net.
The third set followed a similar pattern with Davydenko grabbing another break in the first game and then again in the seventh.
"It's frustrating. I think, through experience you know that it's not a question of trying harder out there, I've got to try and play better," Henman said.
"I'll be the first to admit I wasn't able to do that."
Henman's impotent performance all but silenced the "Barmy Army" of British fans who had been singing loudly and happily at the start of a match he had been expected to win after beating Davydenko in their two previous encounters in 2003.
"I feel, you know, totally gutted really," Henman said.
"My expectations were obviously for a lot more," he said.
Davydenko will now take on 12th seed Guillermo Canas, who beat unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
