Tim Henman may not fancy the early wake-up calls but his morning start failed to prevent him turning in one of his finest performances on clay yesterday.

The British No 1, from Oxfordshire, beat Moroccan Hicham Arazi 6-4, 7-5 in the Hamburg Masters Series event to set up a second round showdown with old foe Jerome Golmard.

After his battling performance against the player who had beaten him on the same court two years ago, confident Henman is ready to take on Golmard at any time.

He said: It is not going to be easy against him but I look forward to giving myself that test. The pair have met six times before with each player winning three apiece, and with the prospect of a quarter-final against Pete Sampras on the horizon, Henman knows he will have to be at his peak to beat the Frenchman.

His win 1came about as much thanks to Arazi's spectacular second-set collapse as it did through Henman's own newly-found confidence on clay.

The Moroccan is known as a showman and a great crowd favourite, with as much shot-making flair as anyone, but a low level of concentration.

From 5-2 up in the second set, he contrived to let Henman reel off five straight games to seal victory.

Eighth seed Henman could only grin as he recounted the collapse.

He definitely helped me in the last five games, said the 25-year-old Briton. "I gave him the opportunity to miss and he obliged.

From 5-2, he started to play a few strange shots and I was much more consistent and didn't make any unforced errors. It's one of my best clay court wins, he continued, after extending his career advantage against the 26-year-old to 5-1. To get revenge on the same court is very satisfying. Henman has fallen to 11th in the Champions Race after reaching only the second round in Rome last week, but he has looked a more solid player on clay than ever before.

With the French Open a fortnight away, Henman is peaking nicely on a surface he is beginning to get to like.