TIM Henman produced a brilliant performance to beat US Open champion Pat Rafter in four sets on Centre Court yesterday - and found a weapon which could propel him to his best Wimbledon yet.

The 23-year-old from Oxford already has one of the most powerful serves in the men's game but yesterday, for a change, he had the consistency to match it.

Henman took charge early on against sixth seed Rafter and lost control only briefly during two hours 31 minutes of enthralling tennis.

He blasted out a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory which brought him his now customary standing ovation and, for the third year running, a place in the quarter-finals.

And, if he can serve as well again, the man upon whom British hopes rest surely stands a great chance of overcoming third seed Petr Korda in tomorrow's last-eight meeting to reach a semi-final showdown with Pete Sampras.

Henman, seeded 12th this time, said the win was "one of the best, if not the best" of his career.

"I was serving really, really consistently, making a lot of first serves and was under no real pressure on my serve until I served for the second set," he said afterwards. "For the first set and nine games of the second set, that's as good as I've ever served. I was missing very few first serves and losing very few points on my serve." Henman dropped just nine points on his serve until he was broken when, as he admitted, he was probably "a little bit over-confident" as he served for the second set and Rafter quickly brought him back to earth.

"It makes life a lot easier. When you're holding your own serve, you feel it gives you a lot of confidence for the rest of your game and you can start to put pressure on his serve."

Henman hit the heights by beating defending champion Richard Krajicek at last year's championships but he played even better in this match, moving his Australian opponent around the court with precision ground strokes and making few errors at the net.

And, as he knew he had to, Henman took the opportunities that came his way.

Rafter took an injury time-out to receive treatment to his lower back but it didn't distract Henman who courageously delivered an ace on his second serve when break point down at a crucial moment in the fourth set.

"I'm delighted to be through to the quarters but I do feel very relaxed about the whole thing. I thought Rafter's style of play would suit me and I have similar feelings about Korda. He's probably one of the most dangerous players. He can hit winners from all over the court.

"But I don't feel under any pressure at all and I'm playing better than I've done in the last two years."

Korda injured his ankle during his straight sets win over Dutchman Jan Van Lottum but confirmed that he will be fit.

"I stretched my Achilles badly, but it feels much better now than it did on court," the Czech revealed this morning.

"Tim will be favourite, but I will enjoy every minute," said Korda, who has played just once on a show court in 15 years.

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