Henman cruises, Gonzalez upset in Basel

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Second-seeded Tim Henman of Britain overcame fatigue to beat Anthony Dupuis of France 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday in the opening round of the euro989,750 (US$1.25 million) Swiss Indoors.

Henman, who is still seeking enough points to secure a berth in the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston on Nov. 15, has been taking magnesium supplements since blood tests showed he had a deficiency.

Olympic doubles gold medalist Fernando Gonzalez, seeded eighth, lost to qualifier Jerome Haehnel of France 6-3, 6-4. Haehnel eliminated Andre Agassi in the first round of the French Open and then won his first career title earlier this month at the Open de Moselle in Metz, France.

Also, fourth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina downed Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3; seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile topped Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia defeated Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-3, 6-4; and Wesley Moodie of South Africa beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-4, 6-4.

Henman controlled from the start despite his fatigue, breaking Dupuis to go ahead 3-1 in the opening set, then again to lead 4-3 in the second. It was Henman's third win in as many matches against Dupuis.

"I feel I got my energy back," Henman said. "I'll just keep my fingers crossed. I don't know if it's the pills or just resting and recharging my batteries.

"It's difficult to judge. I just know last week I was drained just warming up and now I feel much better," said Henman, who crashed out in the third round of last week's Madrid Masters.

Henman was knocked from sixth to seventh in the race for Houston, following Marat Safin's victory in the Spanish capital. The Briton, without a title this year, is looking to increase his points as well as his confidence before the defense of his Paris Masters trophy next week.

Four of the eight places at the Houston event have already been locked up, with Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio guaranteed spots.

Henman, Carlos Moya, Guillermo Coria, Safin, Agassi and Nalbandian are fighting for the four other berths.

"I'm still in a qualifying spot," said Henman, who reached the semifinals at both the French and U.S. Opens this year. "If I concentrate on my performance and play the way I did today, I have a good chance."

Henman, who won the Swiss Indoors title in 1998 and 2001, has reached the quarterfinals or better in his seven appearances in Basel and has a 25-5 record.

Nalbandian has also done well at this event, winning in 2002 and reaching the finals last year before pulling out with an injured left wrist and leaving Coria to win by walkover.

"That was tough but this is a new year," Nalbandian said.