Henman was always in control

The Briton's all-round game proved too strong for the Armenian, and he came through in straight sets 6-3 6-1.

Henman, the seventh seed, has started the year in fine form following a successful end to 2003 when he won his first ever Masters Series title.

He is the highest seed left in the tournament and will play Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia for a place in the final.

"I'm really pleased," Henman told his official website. "The conditions over here are pretty tough.

"It's windy so serving can prove a bit difficult and it can throw the timing of other shots off a bit.

"That said, I've tried to stay positive and stick to my gameplan of coming in as much as possible and I think that's made life difficult for my opponents so far this week.

"It's always nice to get a few matches under your belt early on in the year and I'm pleased that I've made it this far but the job's not done yet.

"Ljubicic is tough to play against because he can hit the ball so hard. It can be tough to get any rhythm when playing against him but I'm confident and really looking forward to it."

Henman broke serve in the first game of the match and was always in control from then on.

His second ace of the match took him 4-2 ahead and although Sargsian saved another break point to reduce the deficit, Henman broke again to seal the opening set.

Two more breaks of serve saw the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist race through the second set as he continued his encouraging build-up to the Australian Open later this month.