When you mention Henman to most people with a passing knowledge of tennis, you get a lot of ignorant comments that he was no good. The fact is, he was unlucky to be playing at the same time as one of the greatest, arguably the best, grasscourt players of all time, Sampras. Pistol Pete got the better of him 3 times at Wimbledon: '95 R2 (3 sets), & SFs in '98 & '99 (both 4 sets) . Samp also beat him in the final of the Stella Artois. Henman's record at SW17 was excellent, of course-4 semis, 4 QFS & a R4 is not be sniffed at. He also made the semis of the US & French. Most people are also unaware that Henman has the rare distinction of having beaten Federer at Wimbledon (QF 2001). That was the year of his rain-interrupted semi with Goran, which many experts believe was best chance of reaching the final.
Henman is one of my favourite players to watch, aesthetically (although nerve-shredding to watch if you're rooting for him in one of his typical rollercoaster performances-eg v Moya Wimbledon 2007, where he won 13-11 in the 5th) . His attacking serve-volley game makes a refreshing change to the baseline grinders. His attacking game, being suited to grass, has not been helped by the slowing of the courts. You could argue that these slower courts have gone too far the other way in favour of the baseliners. Djokovic's R4 & QF matches at this year's Wimbledon, v Hewitt (R4) & Baghadtis(QF) lasted four & five hours respectively & featured numerous rallies of more than 20 strokes. But I digress...
I hope Tim comes out of retirement next year to have one last crack at the Stella & Wimbledon, but he seems to have ruled it out.
Henman is one of my favourite players to watch, aesthetically (although nerve-shredding to watch if you're rooting for him in one of his typical rollercoaster performances-eg v Moya Wimbledon 2007, where he won 13-11 in the 5th) . His attacking serve-volley game makes a refreshing change to the baseline grinders. His attacking game, being suited to grass, has not been helped by the slowing of the courts. You could argue that these slower courts have gone too far the other way in favour of the baseliners. Djokovic's R4 & QF matches at this year's Wimbledon, v Hewitt (R4) & Baghadtis(QF) lasted four & five hours respectively & featured numerous rallies of more than 20 strokes. But I digress...
I hope Tim comes out of retirement next year to have one last crack at the Stella & Wimbledon, but he seems to have ruled it out.
My favourite classic Henman wins at SW17:
'96 R1 bt Kafelnikov 5 sets '97 R3 bt Haarhuis (14-12 in 5th)
'01 QF bt Federer 4 sets '03 R4 bt Nalbandian 4sets
& last but not least this year when he beat Moya in the first round, 13-11 in the 5th.
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