It had all the hallmarks of a typical Tim Henman upset - playing a lowly ranked opponent who had come through the qualifiers, but was nonetheless on form.

And a clay court player to boot.

But, after two shock defeats to journeymen in his last two outings, perhaps we should have expected that Henman's erratic clay court season would throw up a victory against his first round opponent at Roland Garros, Thomas Behrend.

"It's probably not the best I've played, but I got the job done," said Henman.

"I'm through to the second round and that was the objective today. I got through the first match, which is never easy."

Henman's clay court problems have been well documented in the past, but there were few signs of those in this performance.

"The conditions were favourable," said Henman.

"I've said it before, over the last couple of days, but this is certainly a much more favourable ball for everybody.

"It's a lot harder and you've got more control over it.

Henman feels the conditions are much more like those in Monte Carlo, where he produced the best form on clay in his career in a run to the quarter-finals, than those in Rome and Hamburg where he put in, in his own words, an "appalling" performance.

So it is a vast improvement, but Henman is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

In fact, he suggested he had not even looked at how the draw might pan out.

"When you've got a record like mine here, it's not worth it," he said.

Indeed his best performance at Roland Garros is two appearances in the third round over the last two years.

If Henman does take a belated look at the draw, however, he will find it does not make pretty reading.

In the last 16 he could face Lleyton Hewitt, and the in-form clay court expert Juan Carlos Ferrero is a likely opponent in the quarter-finals.

Just for good measure, the favourite Gustavo Kuerten would lie in wait in the semi-finals.