Henman Drops Curtain On Muster

Thomas Muster’s mission to transform himself from king of clay to master of hard courts broke down Wednesday when he was eliminated from the U.S. Open by Tim Henman 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4.

Henman’s serve-and-volley game proved too fast for the former French Open champion, and Henman put the match away with a backhand volley that broke Muster in the final game.

Two other French Open champs played with mixed results: No. 7 Sergi Bruguera of Spain escaped with a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australian Michael Tebbutt, and women’s No. 4 Iva Majoli fell 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to France’s Sandrine Testud.

In other matches of note, women’s No. 2 seed Monica Seles beat Tara Snuder 6-2, 6-3 in the second round, and unseeded Venus Williams reached the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Gala Leon Garcia. Williams has won 24 of her last 26 games at the Open.