Henman victory puts Team GB in strong position
Tim Henman has doubled Britain's advantage in their Davis Cup tie against Croatia with a straight sets victory over Roko Karanusic. The former British number-one produced a vintage performance at Wimbledon to put Team Britain within touching distance of a place in the World Group as they lead 2-0 in the best of five rubber.
Karanusic was a late replacement for world number 12 Ivan Ljubcic, who was forced to pull out of the match with an infection. The world number 164 could not match his opponent's grass court know-how and rarely troubled Henman, who was backed by an emotional crowd on Centre Court.
Henman's grass court pedigree was on full display as he outclassed his opponent to leave John Lloyd's team only one match away from victory. The result was only his seventh singles victory of the year in his final weekend as a professional.
Henman's footwork and volleying was as assured as in the days when he was ranked number four in the world, and Karanusic was p[owerless to find an answer.
Team Britain now only require one more victory to hold an un-assailable 3-0 lead, which would see them gain promotion back to the elite stage of the Davis Cup.
Ljubcic's withdrawal is another heavy loss to the Croatian team, who are without Mario Ancic due to injury and Ivo Karlovic to a dispute with the authorities.
Croatia may be forced to field an inexperienced doubles pairing in what could be the conclusive rubber in this Europe/Africa zone encounter.
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