Henman admitted his fitness had frustrated him

Henman has been suffering with a bug since the Hamburg Masters and was below his best as he beat Saulnier 4-6 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-3.

"It's still a bit of a struggle," Henman said after the match.

"But if I can play for four hours and come back from two sets then I've got to be positive."

Henman was lacklustre as he lost the first two sets to his French opponent.

But he drew enough strength and inspiration to win the next three and come back from two sets down for the first time in a tour match.

"Mentally in the first two sets I was getting pretty frustrated that I felt the way I did," Henman said.

I felt pretty tired from after three or four games of the first set Tim Henman

"But I was just penalising myself. At the beginning of the third set I decided to just get on with it and accept the cards I was dealt and keep fighting.

"In the end I won on determination and guts. It's a good achievement in this match and hopefully I can feel better for my next match."

Henman said he felt tired from the middle of the first set, but was relieved that his fitness did not deteriorate after that.

"I felt pretty tired from after three or four games of the first set," the British number one said.

"But the level never really changed. I felt the same way in the first set as I did in the fifth."