Henman loses to jinx opponent Tursunov

PARIS, Jun 1 (Reuters) British involvement in the French Open singles ended today when Russian Dmitry Tursunov completed a 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory over Tim Henman in the second round.

Henman, a surprise semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2004, lost to Tursunov at Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January and could not prevent the Russian making it a hat-trick on clay.

The 31-year-old Briton trailed by two sets overnight and had been warned for swearing when bad light stopped play yesterday.

Today's resumption he recovered from a break down to win the third set. Henman squandered nine break point opportunities in the sixth game of the fourth set and Tursunov, seeded 31, wrapped up victory on serve.

The Russian plays Argentine third seed David Nalbandian in round three.

Henman's compatriots Andy Murray and Greg Rusedski lost in the first round.

REUTERS PG PC1835