Henman now faces old foe Hewitt in the next round

In a late-night match, Henman sealed victory over the former world number one at 0130 local time in Miami.

Nearly 12 hours earlier, Rusedski had ousted Safin's fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win.

British number one Andy Murray bowed out in the first round on Wednesday, losing in three sets to Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

Former world number one Safin has slipped down the rankings to 47th due to a knee injury.

He had played just three tournaments between Wimbledon and this event and was prevented from defending the Australian Open title he won in 2005.

I'm not that surprised with the performance Tim Henman

He looked rustry against Henman, dropping his serve early in the first set before recovering, only to let the British number three run away with the opener.

A break in the fifth game of the second set confirmed Henman's dominance and he held serve thereafter, pinching another game against the Safin serve.

"To give myself a bit of credit, I've been playing all right," said Henman later.

"That's why I'm not that surprised with the performance.

"You know, the result is the bonus. I feel the way I've played the last four weeks, I've been hitting the ball great."

He now faces 13th-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt - a player he has never beaten in eight attempts.

The challenge for Henman is to repeat, or better, last year's quarter-final performance in Miami.

If he fails, he risks falling further down the world rankings from his current 56th place.

Rusedski, presently 48th in the world and number two behind Andy Murray in British terms, has already matched his achievement of last year.