Henman pulls out of comeback event

British number two Tim Henman has been forced to withdraw from his comeback tournament in Marseille next week as he looks to make a complete recovery from his knee injury.

The 32-year-old had to pull out of the Australian Open last month and had been hoping to make his first appearance since October in the south of France.

Instead Henman has set his sights on returning in Rotterdam, the event starting on Monday February 19.

Henman said: "Unfortunately, I've been forced to delay my return to competition despite a vast improvement in the condition of my injured knee.

"I was hoping to play in the Open 13 in Marseille next week but I've decided to pull out of that event and aim to get my 2007 campaign under way at the Rotterdam tournament."

However, the Oxford-born player insists he is satisfied with his recovery and his withdrawal is merely a precaution.

"The good news is that my knee is now a lot better than it was before," added Henman.

"I've been practising this week and it's a case of so far so good, but I just don't want to rush back on to the match court before I've had a chance to really push it in practice.

"It's healing really well and I haven't felt any twinges at all so far, but I haven't been able to train on it as much as I would have wanted. I wasn't able to do any strength work on it for quite a few weeks and it takes time to build that strength back up.

"I feel confident that if there are no major setbacks then I'll be ready to play in Rotterdam.

"Although I'm disappointed that I've had to miss another tournament my priority is to be fully fit before I compete again, and hopefully it won't be long before that happens."