I will be honest with you folks; this match was a snoozer. Occasionally this happens, despite physically watching the match, you find yourself missing points or even games for no good reason. I do not know if it was the lack of charisma between the players or that there was no spectacular shot making. It surely was not a "messy" match filled with unforced errors and the like, with both players hitting their fair share of winners. Maybe the match just lacked drama. The previous match between Lleyton Hewitt and Daniel Vacek at least had a surprising comeback from Vacek at 1-6, 2-5. Hewitt prevailed 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 but at least the young Australian's temporary choke provided some entertainment value. I guess ultimately that it was just steady tennis.

One thing that did surprise me about the match was how often each player voluntarily ventured to the net. Woodruff was especially effective with his forehand volley. This was the first match that I have seen in a week and a half of live tennis where neither player seemed to have a struggle on their serve. Maybe this was the tension that was missing from this match. Dosedel did not see a break point on the Woodruff serve for the first set. Woodruff had his chances in the fourth game with two break opportunities and another break point in the eight game. He was unable to convert on any of these. To Dosedel's credit he was able to erase these break chances with a variety of winners off his own racquet. The first set appeared to be headed to the inevitable tiebreak but ended when Woodruff finally converted a break point on Dosedel's serve at 6-5. Dosedel hit a backhand wide to set up the break point at 30-40. Another Dosedel backhand landed in the net to give Woodruff the first set at 7-5 in 43 minutes.

While the crowds were cheering wildly over at the jam-packed Grandstand Court for the Lapentti/Ilie match, a large number of folks stuck with this match for the second set. After taking a bathroom break between sets, Woodruff started cold on his first serve. Opening with two double faults, Woodruff surrendered his first service game to give Dosedel a 1-0 lead. Woodruff earned the break back in the fourth game of the second set. While Dosedel displayed some skill at the net thus far in the match, a rare serve-and-volley failed on break point. The set was locked at 2-2. Both players fell into their first set routine, with fairly easy service holds for the next several games. Woodruff and Dosedel each won games in this series of games with forehand volley winners.

Similar to the first set, this one appeared headed to a tiebreak but was once again ended abruptly by a service break. In the tenth game, Dosedel double faulted for 15-30 then uncharacteristically committed two backhand errors to give Woodruff the match, 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 25 minutes. Woodruff faces Lleyton Hewitt in the second round on Thursday.

Like yesterday's last day session match between Rafter and Ferrero, this match seemed to have the ingredients for an upset. Henman has never been Mr. Consistency while Koubek was coming off his second career title on the hard courts of Delray Beach last week. Koubek is now #21 in the ATP "entry" rankings just ten spots from his on-court opponent today.

Henman strongly started the match off with a service break. Koubek had a chance to even the match in the third game when Henman netted a forehand volley. Henman persevered through several deuces until a Koubek forehand sailed long to maintain a 3-1 one break lead. Koubek had another chance on the next Henman service game and this time he was successful. Henman opened the game with two double faults and then was dealt some bad luck when what appeared to be an easy volley hit the netcord and bounced up into Henman's body for the break of service. Koubek did not maintain the momentum of earning the break back. A double fault followed by two forehand errors gave Henman the break back for 4-3. Henman held his next serve closing the game out with a 128mph ace. Henman broke Koubek for the set thanks to a service game consisting entirely of Koubek errors. Henman won the first set 6-3 in 34 minutes.

Both players held their service games for much of the second set. Henman was broken in the fifth game of the set but like the first immediately broke Koubek's serve the next game. Throughout the match, Henman dictated play so, unlike the previous match, it was somewhat of a surprise that the second set would be decided by a tiebreak.

Here is how the tiebreak unfurled:

H: Henman forehand wide on the fifth stroke of the rally. Koubek 1-0.

K: Henman rushes to the net, Koubek lob is long. 1-1.

K: On the tenth stroke, Henman hits a forehand deep, Koubek's reply hits the net. Henman 2-1.

H: Henman hits another deep forehand on third shot, Koubek nets a forehand. Henman 3-1.

H: 114mph serve and volley, Koubek forehand goes wide in reply to the volley. Henman 4-1.

K: Henman hits a backhand volley winner on sixth stroke. Henman 5-1.

K: Koubek passes Henman at the net with a forehand on the third stroke. Henman 5-2.

H: Henman double faults. Henman 5-3.

H: 104mph service winner by Henman. Henman 6-3.

K: Henman lobs Koubek, Koubek gets back to it and sends a lob back that floats long. Henman 7-3.

Not exactly the drama of the Seles tiebreaks last week, but a good showing for Henman nonetheless. The Brit was particularly aggressive coming to the net for nearly every point of the tiebreak.

Having only witnessed Henman's game on television (mostly Wimbledon), I was a little surprised that Henman did not approach the net more during the match. While I knew that Henman was not a pure serve-and-volley player like Rafter, I expected to see him off the baseline more often. Nevertheless, I was surprised by the power of the Henman game. Maybe it is his slight build, but his service aces ranging anywhere from 113mph to 128mph were a bit unexpected. I was also curious to see what Koubek was all about, especially since he has risen 25 tough spots up to #21 this year alone. Koubek is another forehand slammer. In the second set especially, I noticed he often ran around his backhand in favor of his stronger wing. Koubek certainly is not and imposing figure on the court at a mere 5'9" and 150 pounds. He's a tricky player but I sensed the crowd today did not see the player who won Delray Beach last week. Koubek certainly did not possess the accurate passing shots that led to Juan Carlos Ferrero's unraveling of Patrick Rafter yesterday. Henman, the #5 seed and in Sampras's half of the draw, takes on Byron Black in the second round.