Kafelnikov, Johansson out, Henman wins thriller

Seeds Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Thomas Johansson stumbled out of the World Indoor Tournament on Thursday as Tim Henman came from matchpoint down to complete a marathon second round victory over Fabrice Santoro.

Second seed Kafelnikov suffered a 7-6 4-6 6-3 defeat to Ivan Ljubicic while Australian Open champion Johansson put in a lacklustre performance during his 6-2 6-3 loss to France's Arnaud Clement.

Sixth seed Henman had to battle for more than 2-1/2 hours for his thrilling 7-5 4-6 7-5 win, but defending champion Nicolas Escude demolished Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-2 in just 55 minutes.

A below-par Kafelnikov was blasted off court as Croatian Ljubicic sent down 30 aces to set up a last eight meeting with Swiss qualifier Ivo Heuberger.

"There was nothing I could do today," said the 28-year-old former Rotterdam champion.

"Every time I had any opportunity to do anything (on Ljubicic's serve), he came up with a big serve and the point was over."

Following the defeats of top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero and number three seed Marat Safin on Wednesday, France's Sebastien Grosjean is now the highest seed left in the tournament.

Fourth seed Grosjean advanced with a straightforward 6-0 6-2 win over British qualifier Martin Lee.

In the last match of the day, Johansson looked out of sorts as Clement pounded winner after winner to stamp his authority from the outset.

The 1998 Rotterdam finalist also contributed to his own downfall by hitting several wayward returns.

EMPHATIC ACE

Earlier, world number 27 Santoro held matchpoint at 5-4 in the deciding set on Henman's serve, but an emphatic ace by the Briton ended the furious Frenchman's hopes of pulling off an upset.

The Frenchman was annoyed with umpire Lars Graff's decision to call a Henman forehand in, which allowed his opponent to go 30-0 up in the tenth game.

Had the point gone his way, Santoro believes he would have prevailed -- as he went on to win four successive points from 0-40 down to earn the solitary matchpoint.

"This is the first time that I've had the feeling that I lost the match because of the umpire," he said. "He (Graff) did a terrible job."

A pumped-up Henman, Rotterdam finalist in 1999 and 2000 and a winner in Adelaide last month, decisively broke Santoro's serve in the next game before completing victory with a crosscourt volley.

"At this level it can boil down to one or two points but the important thing is to come through it," said the 27-year-old British number one.

"It's my job to concentrate on what I'm doing and if he's getting frustrated that was a good sign for me."

Henman will meet Safin's conqueror, Czech Bohdan Ulihrach, for a place in the semifinals.

HOT ESCUDE

Unseeded Escude, who knocked out Ferrero on Wednesday, showed no mercy as he raced to a 5-0 first set lead, breaking Robredo in the second and fourth games with a succession of winning volleys.

Escude's powerful serving kept the 34th-ranked Spaniard on the backfoot in the second. Attacking Robredo's slow spun delivery, Frenchman Escude won 75 percent of points on his opponent's second serves, which proved decisive.

But Escude can expect a tougher encounter in the last eight as he faces seventh seed Roger Federer, who advanced without hitting a ball when Marseille champion Thomas Enqvist withdrew suffering from flu.