Henman won in three sets

The British number one was in confident form from the outset, coasting to a comfortable first-set lead.

But his game briefly crumbled in the second set as Sanchez came back from a break down to win the tie-break 10-8.

Henman's nerves, though, settled and he coasted to a 5-0 lead, faltered briefly, but then sealed the win.

He now faces Nicolas Massu in the next round.

Afterwards Henman said: "The first round was a real struggle but today I played much, much better.

"I was very aggressive on my serve and was putting pressure on his serve. Every time he served I always felt I had a chance.

"I felt my game was pretty good today and was very pleased to have finished it off."

Despite facing a clay-court specialist, Henman served and volleyed his way to a 3-0 lead in the opening set.

Although Sanchez had a chance of a break point at 4-1 down, he rarely featured in the first set.

Capitulated again

The Monaco crowd looked set for a replica of the first set as Henman broke immediately to go 1-0 clear in the second, but his Spanish opponent hit back straight away.

The remaining set went with serve until the tie-break when Henman once more capitulated, crumbling to 4-0 down.

The Briton, though, brought the scores level, only for Sanchez to win the set after converting a sixth set point.

Although buoyed by the turnaround, Sanchez could do little right as the players started the third set.

Henman broke twice to go 5-0 ahead before his opponent held serve twice and Henman was broken once to gain some respectability.

But it only delayed the inevitable, as the number six seed rounded off the win with a solid volley.