I Miss Tim Henman (but I do still love tennis)

A great interview with Tim here putting his career in context, discussing commentating and british and other players

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/tim-henman-its-a-sack-of-crap-to-say-that-i-was-too-nice-to-win-855302.html

The best bit for me is the confirmation that he will consider over 35s at Wimbledon; how fantastic! He had a remarkable career, and wouldnt it be lovely for him to lift a seniors trophy and for henmania to once again grace the lawns, if perhaps just a little more muted than during his main career

Chris's performance against Turonov has me very excited about the future. It really looks like there is someone to take on Tim's mantle as a true, attacking server-volleyer

Personally, I think the LTA should action support immediately for this player; to my mind, he is far more deserving of Brad Gilbert's skills than Bogdanavic who has had 5 wild cards granted and never made it past the first round

Chris Eaton to me, has more raw talent, and unquestionably has the game to take him top 100 and maybe beyond in the coming years

I feel sure he will be getting called up for Davis Cup!

Now, dont get me wrong, I like Andy Murray and really want him to do well, but he just doesnt inspire the huge passion I had for Tim's game

Chris Eaton, well he really is another story; I am literally loving his style of play, and oh my word, he is a committed serve volley player, perhaps he really can fill a little bit of the void.

Great attitude and demeanour and having won his place through qualifying, and taking a nice straight sets victory in round one, he is in the second round at Wimbledon on absolute merit (unlike some other british tennis players we could mention!).

great stuff and I am really excited about his future

Ignorning his test run on some random match on an outside court, Tim's debut was, I thought, excellent on Andy Murrays round one. The ribbing from John Mac and Tim was great fun, and Tim did an excellent job of taking some jibes on the chin, and delivering as good as he got.

His references to his own career were tongue in cheek, and showed his great sense of humour and understanding of the rollercoaster he put his fans through!

On the tennis front, Murrays match was excellent entertainment with the infuriating Fabrice Santoro proving a relatively easy, if frustrating opponebt

Quite a nice piece in The Times on Tim's return to his favourite tournament as a commentator

I for one felt bereft to see him in the studio with Sue discussing matters rather than playing, but certainly his insights will give a fascinating edge to the commentary this year. I suspect the forthcoming Murray match will be his debut!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article4180965.ece

Deary me, the state of British Tennis...

The new ATP rankings have shown that despite retiring in September, Tim's world ranking has just gone up from 382 to 375 due to some poor defences of clay court points from other players this season. He remains in the computer system for a year

What is utterly depressing is that this ranking still makes him Britain's No6 tennis player! We need new players coming through desperately

Just one day til Wimbledon now, very excited, but it really is gonna hit home how different things will be without our Tim :0(

How I miss printing the draw the minute it was published and planning out his route through the tournament

Come on Nadal and Murray!!

Well one week til Wimbledon, and I have been annoyed that the BBC havent seen fit to include a shot of Tim in their pre-tournament adverts, grrrrrrr

Anyway, watching Rafa is giving me some serious, and much needed excitement and anticipation for this years tournament, I have high hopes for Andy Murray, but I havent quite taken him to my heart yet; Nadal however, boy do I want him to win and complete a back to back that has not been done since the genius that was Bjorn Borg graced the courts

Having won Queens, I am now sure that he can do it, what a player to watch, such drive and excitement when he plays, love it ;0))

I got to thinking about it, and thought I would write my list of the 10 best male tennis players never to win a grand slam, and the 10 biggest one Slam wonders

In certain quarters, Tim Henman’s Career will always be defined firstly by the fact that he didn’t win Wimbledon, but also because he didn’t win a grand slam full stop

There are always great players in any generation, but Tim was unfortunate perhaps to play in the era of both Sampras and Federer, arguably the two greatest players ever, and to meet Goran Ivsanisvic in a semi final moment of absolute destiny. The French Open loss to Coria was perhaps really the one that slipped away, and was maybe his greatest chance (especially without the home crowd pressure of wimbledon). But in 6 of his 7 semi finals, he lost to the eventual slam winner, no disgrace to my mind, and although Federer will (probably) surpass it, Tim’s record at Wimbledon is second only to Pete Sampras at the time of writing

Top 10 Tennis Players Who Didn’t Win a Grand Slam

1) Tim Henman – say no more, one of the greatest serve volleyers of all time, sublime touch, reached number four in the world, and 7 Grand slam Semi finals, (plus 4 wimbledon quarters) was in the top ten in the World for years

2) Marcelo Rios the only player to have held the No. 1 ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam singles title

3)Guillermo Coria – unbelievable clay courter, reached the final of the French and choked big time

4) Mark Philippoussis – massive serve, great grass court game, faced a lot of pressure at the aussie open, certainly Wimbledon was in his grasp when at the top of his game

5) Cedric Pioline – reached two slam finals, but like Tim, was unlikely to meet Sampras at these two critical events, great player to watch

6) David Nalbandian – a dangerous player on any surface, reached number 8 in the World and the wimbledon final losing to Leyton Hewitt in straight sets in 2002

7)Tomas Berdych – many agree has never reached his potential, still a bit of time yet maybe?

8) Alex Corretja – reached number 2 in the world, was twice a runner up at the French, lost to Carlos Moya and the simply wonderful Gustavo Kuerten

9) Fernando Gonzalez – still a bit of time, but it’s running out, wonderful forehand, great to watch, reached the Australian Open final losing to Federer

10) Todd Martin – deserves a mention, an impressive 7 grand slam semi finals, and one of the most consistent players on the men’s tour, for sure a player nobody wanted to meet

Top 10 One Grand Slam Wonders

1) Mark Edmondson won the aussie open in 1976 when ranked 212 in the World, an excellent doubles player, but not exactly world class singles

2) Gaston Gaudio – won the French because Coria choked, say no more!

3) Andy Roddick – now don’t get me wrong, I love Andy, and you have to admire that serve, but come on, his game is a little one dimensional is it not?

4) Brian Teacher won the Aussie open in 1980, very little else you can say about his career

5) Thomas Johansson – won the Aussie open “unexpectedly”, a decent player, reached 7 in the World, but not many titles to his name, and not exactly consistent, or indeed exciting

6) Albert Costa – beat some classy players to win the French, but does anyone really remember him?

7) Richard Krajicek – won wimbledon in 1996, I remember being bored silly by that one, although in fairness he also reached semis at the French and Aussie. Utterly irrelevant to this list of one slam wonders, but quoted as saying "Eighty percent of the top 100 women are fat pigs who don't deserve equal pay." Apparently he later apologised, but grrrrrrrrr

Well, actually, 7 in the list then not 10, because the others that won just one had good careers that mean they cant really be fairly referred to as being a “one slam wonder”

Now you cant tell me any of these guys are “better” than Tim in real tennis terms ;0))

Now, I don't know much about golf, but I do know Tim has always been a bit nifty on the golf course, (Handicap of 3, which I believe is pretty good), the Telegraph had an interesting little piece today about his golf game...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2101209/Tim-Henman-comes-up-to-scratch-as-a-golfer.html

Hmmmmm, what an interesting idea, Tim going professional in a second sport and making it there too! Would a golfing tournament win make up for our pain of no grand slam win? No would certainly be the answer, but perhaps it would go some way to reduce the criticism in the media, and lets face it, that would be nice ;0))

Personally, I would much rather he played seniors, or maybe even doubles tennis; I have long since held a fantasty of Tim and Sampras playing doubles and winning the title at Wimbledon ;0) I have had a bet on for years that he would win wimbledon, and maintain that a seniors title or doubles would count!

Ah well, dream on, I have been enjoying the Queens club tennis today, and thankfully, there have been some great examples of serve volley play which is always nice

Why, oh why, do people still write this crap?

"Is Andy Murray doomed to be another British loser like Tim Henman?"

It drives me mad, it really does, I just cannot get my hat on as to how henmans superb career makes him a loser, madness

And to utter the word "loser" and "murray" in a headline when he is just 21 (granted others have achieved much more at his age, BUT), is simply ludicrous; I agree his temper is questionable, but that fire in his belly will serve him well when he learns to control it, then again, it never did mcenroe any harm!

And More..

"Murray on the other hand has had a strenuous route to stardom. It is an uphill task to live up to the expectation of British fans in a country that invented the sport. We have seen Tim Henman succumb to such pressures and remain a player full of under-achievement"

Em, what, under-achievement, GRRRRRRR, for sure Tim didnt get a slam, but I believe he achieved more than he should have been able to considering he has a degenerative back problem and didnt have some of the sheer power weapons of other player, the skills he did have he developed and honed to the highest level, and he became one of the greatest grass court players for decades, and not jsut of the Brits, but any player in the World

I just dont know how reaching number 4 in the World in any sport makes a person a "loser"

Anyway, here's the link...

http://www.sportingo.com/tennis/a9089_andy-murray-doomed-be-another-british-loser-like-tim-henman

Of course with the grasscourt season upon us, so will begin the talk of changing the name of Henman Hill; I wonder who will be first during BBC coverage to bring it up, my money is on Sue Barker!

Several times I have lived and died with Tim on Henman Hill, what a place, what an atmosphere; there is just no way for me that it can ever be reclassified as Murray mount, the only circumstances perhaps that this might be acceptable, would be if he were to take the title, and then, I might make a new decision on new information, until that day, forever Henman Hill it will be

A lot will depend on Andy's run on the grass of course as to how much a talking point this will be, we shall see!

The pain, Queens starts today, and although it has been bugging me ever since he retired, it really is hitting home now how different it will all be without our Tim on the hallowed green courts of England

Who is going to play the sublime serve and volley play so suited to the grass courts now, who is going to take us on our summer rollercoasters, no Tim, no England football team at Euro 2008, it really is just not on

Soooo, I will try to loyally hang my hat with Andy Murray, and I wish him all the luck in the World for the coming grass court season, and hope he uses the time well to bond with us Henman (and british tennis ;0) fans in order that we can feel the same sort of passion

And for Wimbledon itself, well I for one would simply love to see Rafa go all the way, and beat Federer into submission on the grass courts as well as the red clay, back to back French and Wimbledon, well then he will be putting himself in the ranks of the great, and Federer will realise that he has a little more left to do if he truly is to be called the greatest ever and take Sampras' records.

Well, well well, Gael Monfils played some superb tennis yesterday to reach his first slam semi, and on home turf too, good for him! He is the first Frenchman to reach the semi since Grosjean in 2001, being unseeded, it is an even greater achievement

The French Open crowd were on the edge of their seats, great atmosphere, very reminicsent of our Tim at Wimbledon. It didnt quite reach the same fever pitch, but nonetheless, it was fantastic to see, and makes a change to enjoy that sort of atmoshphere without having extreme emotions invested in the outcome!

Monfils is a fabulous player to watch, he doesnt really look like he's going to be as good as he is with his very tall stature, I have seen very little of him in the past, but what a personality and his court coverage was fantastic. He certainly dealt with the pressure well, and I for sure will make an effort to watch is matches in future

Let's face it, we are all going to miss Tim Henman this year at Wimbledon, I know for a fact all the "die hard fans" will be feeling the pain this year, and with Murray out of the French, our thoughts are inevitably turning to British prospects on the grass in 2008

But I believe even those that remained on the fence about Tim, and indeed even many of his detractors are going to miss the genius of a true serve volley player so sadly lacking in the modern game

We will all pin our hopes on Murray, and I desperately hope he can cope with the added pressure on him this year, and keep his temper in check

He has high hopes according to press reports, and I wait with eagerness to see how his grass court game shapes up at Queens

I quite enjoyed the match between Paul-Henri Mathieu and Djokovic at the French yesterday and it got me to thinking about the pressure Tim used to face at wimbledon

French winners at their home tournament are almost as lacking (but not quite!) as British wins at Wimbledon, the last female to win the French was Mary Pierce in 2000, and on the men's side, you have to go back to 1983 when Yannick Noah beat Mats Wilander for the title

I have no doubt that the French players feel just as much pressure as Tim felt on his shoulders, but you cannot sense that palpable tension that Hemnan played under on the hallowed grass courts. A Tim fan for many years, the first time i made it onto the centre court to watch him play, I was taken aback by the baited breath of 14,000 people, the sighs when he missed a shot and the like, I honestly have never felt anything like it

Maybe it's a British thing, and lets face it, we are very familiar with holding our sporting hopes high only for them to be dashed, but the French seem far calmer about the whole thing!

They are odd though, I am always fascinated how quickly the French crowd can turn on someone when they dont like their demeanour, style of play or whatever it may be, and the whistles begin to ring around the stadium