LONDON, June 13: Tim Henman wrecked Andre Agassi's comeback with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the first round of the Stella Artois Championships on Monday. The 36-year-old Agassi has suffered back problems for a number of years and chose to skip the claycourt season to conserve energy for his grasscourt campaign.

The 12th seed's bid to get match fit for a second tilt at the Wimbledon title suffered a setback, however, when he was outclassed by the British favourite on a hot and sultry day at Queen's Club.

Having been out of action for three months, Agassi would not have wanted his first match to be against a serve-and-volleyer who thrives on the slick surface.

But with four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman arriving at the tournament as an unseeded player for the first time in a decade, Agassi was drawn to play the one opponent he would like to have avoided in the opening round.

Henman was the only local winner on the opening day after British number one Greg Rusedski and Martin Lee both exited.

Rusedski quit while trailing Frenchman Antony Dupuis 5-7 6-3 3-2 with a hip injury. France's Gael Monfils, seeded 13th, was a 7-6 7-6 winner over Juergen Melzer.

French Open winner Rafael Nadal makes his debut at the tournament later in the week along with three-time defending champion Andy Roddick and Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who has also triumphed three times at the west London club.

The top eight seeds have a bye into the second round.

Monday’s results:

First round: Frank Dancevic (Canada) beat Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Hyung-Taik Lee (South Korea) beat 14-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4; 13-Gael Monfils (France) beat Juergen Melzer (Austria) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2); Antony Dupuis (France) beat Greg Rusedski (Britain) 5-7, 6-3, 3-2 – Rusedski retired; Fernando Vicente (Spain) beat Martin Lee (Britain) 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat Simon Greul (Germany) 6-3, 6-3; Justin Gimelstob (US) beat Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2; Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Tomas Zib (Czech Republic) 3-6, 7-5, 6-0; Tim Henman (Britain) beat 12-Andre Agassi (US) 6-4, 6-4; Razvan Sabau (Romania) beat Robin Vik (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-3; Yen-Hsun Lu (Taiwan) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7); Daniele Bracciali (Italy) beat Feliciano Lopez (Spain) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4); Bobby Reynolds (US) beat Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) 6-4, 6-4; Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) beat Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

HALLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS:

First round: Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); Andreas Seppi (Italy) beat Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) 7-6 (14-12), 7-5; Andrei Pavel (Romania) beat 4-Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; 3-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Boris Pasanski (Serbia & Montenegro) 7-5, 6-2; 7-Olivier Rochus (Belgium) beat Alexander Waske (Germany) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; 8-Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) beat Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-2, 6-3.

BIRMINGHAM: Birmingham Classic women's tournament:

First round: Shenay Perry (US) beat Jill Craybas (US) 6-3, 6-3; Olga Poutchkova (Russia) beat Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukraine) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; 13-Na Li (China) beat Mashona Washington (US) 6-3, 6-3; Ayumi Morita (Japan) beat Katie O'Brien (Britain) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1; Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; 12-Mara Santangelo (Italy) beat Emma Laine (Finland) 6-1, 6-2; Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Switzerland) beat Aiko Nakamura (Japan) 6-3, 6-3; Ahsha Rolle (US) beat Stephanie Foretz (France) 6-2, 7-6; Meilen Tu (US) beat Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) 6-3, 7-6; Sarah Borwell (Britain) beat Melanie South (Britain) 7-6, 3-6, 6-3; 9-Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) beat Melinda Czink (Hungary) 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3; Zi Yan (China) beat 16-Laura Granville (US) 6-4, 6-4; Jamea Jackson (US) beat 10-Klara Koukalova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-1; Martina Sucha (Slovakia) beat 11-Catalina Castano (Colombia) 6-3, 6-1.—Reuters