Henman hopes to turn the page against Murray at Thailand Open

By Bill Scott Sep 25, 2006, 13:09 GMT

Bangkok - Tim Henman was hoping Monday to reverse his luck against British compatriot Andy Murray after the pair were drawn into their third match in less than two months in the first round of the 550,000 US dollar Thailand Open.

Henman, 32, and 0-3 against his teenaged countryman ranked 16th, got in some training at Bangkok's Impact Arena while Murray was jetting halfway around the globe after helping Britain past Ukraine in Davis Cup playoff rounds at the weekend.

Murray, 19, beat his elder back-to-back on hardcourt in Toronto and Cincinnati in August.

'I've had good preparation and it can't be the best for Andy coming straight here from Davis Cup,' said Henman, who missed the event last year with a back problem

'I'd be hoping for a different result this time,' he said of his winless mark against his compatriot.

Main draw play was delayed until Tuesday, with many players travelling to Thailand after Davis Cup ties at the weekend.

Fourth seed Murray arrived Monday afternoon after an itinerary which began in Odessa Sunday night and passed through Budapest and Frankfurt before ending in the kingdom.

Coming in from Moscow were Marat Safin from the winning Russian semi-final side, and James Blake, the third seed who played for the losing Americans.

Top seed Ivan Ljubicic and number 2 Marcos Baghdatis have been in town for several days, with Baghdatis of Cyprus arriving straight from his title in Beijing eight days ago and holding a tennis clinic at the weekend.

Ljubicic, a Balkans child war refugee, made a visit to some of the tank emplacements around the city following last week's bloodless coup which overthrew the government.

Bangkok's peaceful and all-smiles coup has drawn crowds onto the streets to marvel at the heavy weaponry brought out last Tuesday from the barracks.

But Ljubicic has a mission in Thailand, where he reached the semi-finals at the inaugural edition in 2003.

The 27-year-old is a tough customer on indoor hardcourt, with two titles in late 2005 and a final at the Madrid Masters against Rafael Nadal.

He starts his campaign against Spain's Fernando Vicente.

Finn Jarkko Nieminen takes the fifth seeding, ahead of 2003 finalist former Juan Carlos Ferrero.