Tim Henman last night pledged to do his bit to lift British tennis out of the rut it finds itself in once again.

Tim HenmanOxfordshire's finest sportsman is the only Brit to survive for four days of the Wimbledon fortnight after all the women had crashed out by the Tuesday and Greg Rude-dski exited amid a torrent of abuse 24 hours later.

The efficiency of Henman's straight-sets defeat of France's Michael Llodra on Centre Court yesterday suggests his game is coming together nicely.

And with the draw opening up perfectly for him - he plays another qualifier in Swedish rookie, Robin Soderling, in the third round tomorrow - another passage to the last eight looks well within his bounds.

"It's been the case (that it's all down to me) for the last six or seven years, hasn't it?", he said. "I feel like I've been able to handle that pretty well.

"The state of British tennis is not particularly healthy at the moment.

"We've got to break out of the rut we're in. It's been too long, with the standard as poor as it's been.

"There are a lot of other things that are out of my control.

"Where I'll have the biggest impact for British tennis is if I keep winning, and hopefully win this tournament one day."

Henman's match with Llodra was delayed while a film crew filmed two scenes of a movie called Wimbledon, about a British player winning the Championship's men's singles.

It was a fantasy to equal Harry Potter's games of Quidditch in the sky.

But the No 10 seed then showed the script may not be as far-fetched as it sounds with an accomplished all-round display against the left-handed Llodra.

He served well, came in on his second serve and was returning well, as he demonstrated when winning the opening set with three brilliant passes.

It was clearly a step-up from his struggling start against Tomas Zib.

"I felt today's performance was much improved," Henman said.

"His style of play helped me, he was giving me a target some of the time, and I was picking my spots well. And I'm pretty happy with the way I'm serving."

What Henman will be up against in the second week, assuming he sees off Soderling, will be players who consistently hit the ball deeper than Llodra.

The Parisian produced some delightful net play and found some great angles, but hit too short a length, and in that respect, Henman might hope for a challenger who pushes him more.

But he's unlikely to meet that until he comes up against last year's runner-up, the Argentine David Nal- bandian.

Llodra knew his time was up when, with Henman needing just one more game to wrap up his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory, the crowd started a Mexican wave which even those in the Royal Box joined in.

Not only do the players not have to bow to the Royal Box any more, but the 'royals' now stand up for them!