Wednesday, August 2 2006 17:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Britain's Tim Henman struggled past a one-win ATP wonder to avoid a shocking upset while Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan lost in second-round matches Tuesday at the ATP Washington Classic.

Henman, the 2003 Washington champion, outlasted 387th-ranked US qualifier Phil King 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5 while Denmark's 115th-ranked Kenneth Carlsen downed 43rd-rated Paradorn 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 on a hot day in the US capitol.

King, ranked 387th, had not won an ATP match until ousting compatriot Bob Reynolds in the first round, but he nearly conquered Henman in the 31-year-old Englishman's first match since a second-round Wimbledon loss to Roger Federer.

Henman, rabnked 64th, advanced to a third-round match Thursday against either US lucky loser Jan-Michael Gambill, who replaced injured 2005 champion Andy Roddick, or Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

Henman fired 10 aces and his 52 winners were twice as many as King managed over their two hours and 29 minutes. But King committed only eight unforced errors to 28 by Henman.

King was undone while serving at 5-5 in the final set, sending a pair of backhands long to hand Henman the break he needed to overcome.

Paradorn, who was a 2002 finalist here, fell to 16-19 on the year.

Extreme temperatures and humidity took a toll with American Vince Spadea advancing to the second round 7-5, 1-0 when Croatia's Roko Karanusic retired with heat exhaustion.

Scotland's Andy Murray, playing his first event under new coach Brad Gilbert, will face Paraguay's Ramon Delgado in a second-round match Wednesday after the South American ousted Australian Peter Luczak 6-4, 6-4.

Fourth seed Andre Agassi, a five-time Washington champion, was to face Italy's Andrea Stoppini in a later match. The 36-year-old American, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, will retire after the US Open.

Also scheduled later was top seed James Blake's second-round match against fellow American Kevin Kim.