PARIS (AFP) - Defending champion Tim Henman crashed out of the 2.45-million-euro Paris Masters tamely surrendering the title he won so impressively last year.
The third seeded Briton lost 7-5, 6-1 in the third round to unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny who now goes on to face Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek for a place in the semi-finals.
"He was on to my serve, was very aggressive and played shots at a high level," said Henman who still has one tournament left this year - the Masters Cup in Houston later this month.
"He is a very consistent player. I hadn't played him before but I've hit with him in practice and he always hit the ball pretty well. He is having a good run and playing very well.
"There is nothing wrong with the way I am hitting the ball. I was sluggish and I need to get my sharpness back for the Masters Cup."
The 22-year-old Russian is one of the form players at the moment having clinched the St Petersburg title last weekend as well as finishing runner-up to countryman Marat Safin in Beijing in September.
Youzhny, the world number 20, didn't allow Henman a single break point in the first set and took the opener after 42 minutes when the 30-year-old Briton hit a lazy forehand long.
It was one of many errors throughout the encounter for Henman who never got out of first gear in front of a subdued and half-empty stadium.
He found himself playing an opponent who was on top of his service game, was prepared to fire winners from all parts of the court and was not afraid to match Henman volley for volley.
Youzhny, who wrapped up a memorable Davis Cup final for Russia against France on this same court two years ago when he fought back from two sets down in the deciding set, raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set.
There was a temporary blip when Henman broke back to trail 3-1 but back came Youzhny to regain his double-break advantage to go 4-1 and held for 5-1.
A dispirited Henman then served up a weak service game and a poor, disinterested forehand dropped into the net to put him out of his agony.
It was his fifth successive service game he had lost.
Stepanek, who came through the qualifiers, eased past American 17th seed Vincent Spadea 6-2, 6-3 to book his place in the last eight.
Argentinian 13th seed Guillermo Canas beat Germany's Tommy Haas 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and now faces either Spain's Feliciano Lopez or 11th seeded Romanian Andrei Pavel, last year's runner-up, for a place in the semi-finals.
Later Thursday, top seeded Andy Roddick faces Belarussian qualifier Max Mirnyi while second seed Lleyton Hewitt meets Chile's Olympic champion Nicolas Massu.
11/04/2004 - 15:41 GMT - AFP