Tim Henman missed out on an excellent chance to reach the Swisscom Challenge semi-finals as the exertions of the last week caught up with him.

The defending champion and top seed at the Basle event crashed out after a terrific tussle with Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian, losing 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.

The British No 1 from Oxfordshire led 20-year-old Nalbandian by a set and had a break point in the ninth game of the second set which. If he had taken it, he would have been serving for the match.

Nalbandian dug in though, showing the fighting spirit which made him a shock finalist at SW19 in July, and then forced Henman to serve to stay in the set.

It went to a tie-break, in which Nalbandian led from the outset, and the momentum had swung so much that the Argentinian had it all his own way in the decider.

Five days after wife Lucy gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Henman was continuing the defence of his title.

He was looking for his second tournament victory of the year. But his busy week caught up with him as his level of play dropped the longer the match went on.