Chang Puts Henman Back Into Real World

MELBOURNE, Australia — Tim Henman and his “Barmy Army,” bellowing British fans with faces painted like Union Jacks, proved no match for Michael Chang.

In an atmosphere that crackled with the electricity of a final Friday night at the Australian Open, the imperturbable Chang quickly turned the roars into groans as he defeated Henman, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, to move into the fourth round.

Henman, 22, didn’t play much like Stefan Edberg or any of the other greats with whom his overwrought fans have compared him during his run from the final in Qatar two weeks ago to the title in Sydney last week that brought him a No. 14 ranking. In fact, the No. 2 Chang made Henman look rather ordinary.

When Henman charged the net, Chang calmly flicked lobs over his head or ripped passing shots by him as if he were a statue.

“I thought I was going to get a stiff neck at the end of the match seeing those [lobs] go over my head,” Henman said.

When Henman stayed back to rally, Chang kept the ball in play and waited for the inevitable mistakes from the other side.

“It was important to have a good mixture of things, to keep him off balance,” said Chang, who next goes against Andrei Medvedev.

Henman, who was facing Chang for the first time, claimed he wasn’t affected by nerves. But his erratic serving and wild shots--one backhand hit the fence behind the baseline--had all the marks of a player under pressure.

That apparent tightness showed up not only in the opening set, when Henman managed to get his first serve in only four times, but in the second set when he let a 5-2 lead slip away as he yielded two straight games at love and began the tiebreaker with a double fault.

Henman, who double-faulted six times and served only three aces, said, “I played a poor match. It’s as simple as that. I don’t think it had anything to do with nerves. “