Tim Henman dug deep into his vast reserves of Wimbledon [Images] experience on Tuesday, coming to his senses in the nick of time to beat Finn Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 and avoid a shattering first-round exit.

The sixth seeded Briton, charged annually with ending his country's interminable wait for a men's singles champion, was two sets down and sliding towards defeat as the inspired 70th-ranked Nieminen outplayed him on Centre Court.

Henman refused to go out with a whimper, however, and the 30-year-old gradually found his feet, and his fight, to pull off an unlikely victory after three hours 31 minutes on the emotional rollercoaster.

"I was struggling with my form the whole match, that was the picture really," Henman said. "But you've got to keep fighting. Fight with what you've got on the day. I am proud of the way I managed to do that.

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"You can lose this tournament on the first day but you can't win it."

Nieminen, who had not played a match on grass for two years, played perfect counter-punching tennis in the first two sets, but he wavered for the first time at 4-5 in the third, dropping serve as Henman suddenly woke up to the crisis.

Serving at 5-6 in the fourth he buckled again as a chip and charging Henman, roared on by a capacity crowd, dragged the match into a decider.

With the tide now turned completely in his favour, four-times semi-finalist Henman charged through the fifth set, breaking twice as Nieminen's brave resistance crumbled.

The Briton knew he had been let off the hook and that his tennis had been sub-standard.

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