Playing his first match after a three-month injury layoff, a patched-up Tim Henman was humbled 6-4, 6-2 by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in the first round of the World Indoor Tournament on Tuesday.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov celebrated his 29th birthday in style by blasting past Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-0 while top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero finally ended his Rotterdam first round jinx with a battling 7-6, 7-6 win over Australian Wayne Arthurs.
Having been sidelined since undergoing shoulder surgery in November, Henman would have hoped for a gentle workout in his first match of the season.
Instead the towering shape of Ljubicic stood in his way and the British number one knew that he would have to come out firing to stand any chance of beating the in-form Croatian.
Henman, who skipped the Australian Open and in January and this month's 4-1 Davis Cup defeat by Australia, quickly found himself pinned back as he failed to control his shots and was broken in the third game of the match.
"I felt pretty pleased with the way my shoulder felt in my first match (after such a long time)," the world number 11 said following the 72-minute drubbing.
"Mentally my focus was 75 per cent on my shoulder and when you are competing at this level, you've got to be thinking about the tennis rather then something like that.
"Tennis at the highest level is about confidence and I know it will take time to get that back."
Although Ljubicic failed to penetrate Henman's crumbling serve again in the first set, he gave the Briton's suspect shoulder a punishing workout at 15-15 in the eighth game.
DEFTLY PLACED
With Henman stranded at the net, Ljubicic had the Briton turning and twisting as he desperately tried to recover the Croatian's deftly placed shots. But it was all in vain as Henman finally gave up the chase with a rueful shrug.
Henman, 28, tried to hang on in the second, but a barrage of aces coupled with Ljubicic's thundering service returns put paid to the Briton's chances of staging a recovery.
The win allowed Ljubicic, who single-handedly destroyed U.S. Davis Cup hopes this month by winning all three of his matches, to avenge a defeat by Henman in the semis here last year.
Kafelnikov had come under-fire recently for his lacklustre effort during Russia's 3-2 Davis Cup first-round victory over the Czech Republic, but the former world number one was clearly back to his best as he romped past the hapless Lopez.
World number 50 Lopez simply had no answer to Kafelnikov's artistry in the second and limped to his fifth first-round exit of the year.
Despite being one of the elder statesmen on the ATP tour, Kafelnikov said he was not yet ready to end his career, even though he had considered retiring last year.
PLAYING ON
"I'm at an age where perhaps my best days are over but there's still energy left in me," said the Russian. I believe I can still win tournaments so I'm playing on."
Kafelnikov could meet third seed Marat Safin in the second round, provided his compatriot overcomes pony-tailed Belgian Xavier Malisse on Wednesday.
World number three Ferrero, whose two previous trips to the event had ended in first round defeats, finally got a win under his belt as he overcame stubborn Arthurs in two tiebreak sets.
Local favourite Richard Krajicek made a winning return when he squeezed past Spain's Tommy Robredo 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 late on Tuesday evening.
Having triumphed here in 1995 and 1997, Krajicek has been plagued by persistent injuries in recent years which have curtailed his on court activities.
Playing at the Ahoy arena for the first time since 1999, Krajicek was stretched to the limit before he grabbed two breaks in the final set to clinch a second round meeting with either defending champion Nicolas Escude or fourth seed Albert Costa.
