Tim Henman may have suffered a disappointing 2005 but he started the new year in fine style with a straight sets defeat of French teenager Richard Gasquet in Doha.

Henman's serve-and-volley game was too much for Gasquet and the 31-year-old Briton sealed a place in the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a 6-4 6-4 success.

A solitary break at 2-2 was enough for Henman to take the first set as the Frenchman, seeded three, was unable to find his range from the back of the court.

Gasquet got himself together at the start of the second, breaking Henman for a 2-0 lead, only to squander the advantage immediately. And another Henman break at 3-3 ultimately proved decisive.

Gasquet made him serve it out, and even held two points to break back at 5-4 down, but victory was Henman's when his opponent failed to return a heavy serve out wide.

Henman will now play German Tommy Haas, who beat Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 5-7 6-2 7-5.

Henman failed to progress beyond five quarter-final appearances in 2005, spoiling his record of reaching at least one ATP final in each of the previous eight years, and he dropped out of the top 20 for the first time since 1996.

* Martina Hingis is off to a successful start in her comeback bid after three years away from the WTA Tour.

Hingis posted a 6-2 6-1 victory over Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi in the first round of the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament.

The 25-year-old left the circuit after the 2002 season because of nagging injuries to her left foot, ankle and heel. She played one tour match in Pattaya City, Thailand, last February, losing to Germany's Marlene Weingartner, and took part in World Team Tennis last summer.

The youngest woman ever ranked No 1, Hingis had her greatest season in 1997 when she won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open and was a finalist in the French Open at age 16.

The Swiss native has 40 career singles titles, 36 in doubles and trails only Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova in earnings.