Pete Sampras today offered close friend Tim Henman some crumbs of comfort after the Oxfordshire star's shock exit from the Stella Artois Championships.

British No 1 Henman, who received a first-round bye as eighth seed, crashed out to unknown American qualifier Bob Bryan - playing only his second ATP event of the year - in straight sets at Queen's Club yesterday.

But defending Wimbledon and Stella champion Sampras - who himself survived a tough three-set clash against British No 4 Arvind Parmar - insisted there was nothing for Henman to be too concerned about. Let's not get carried away with one loss, the American second seed urged. "Tim is a very, very good player on the verge of becoming a great player. It's always a setback whenever you lose, you want as many matches in on grass as you can before Wimbledon. I'm sure Tim is disappointed, but it's just one loss and Tim knows what the bigger picture is.

Henman himself could offer no excuses for his 7-6, 6-4 reverse.

There is no reason and no excuse, said the 25-year-old from Weston-on-the-Green. Henman admitted he may change his plans and enter the Nottingham Open next week in search of match practice with Wimbledon only 12 days away.