| Playername | Tim Henman |
|---|
| Nicknames | Tiger Tim, Timbo, Henners |
|---|
| Country | Great Britain |
|---|
| Residence | Oxfordshire, England, UK |
|---|
| Datebirth | September 06, 1974 |
|---|
| Placebirth | Oxford, England |
|---|
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
|---|
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb; 12.2 st) |
|---|
| Turnedpro | 1993 |
|---|
| Retired | 23 September 2007 |
|---|
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
|---|
| Careerprizemoney | $11,635,542 |
|---|
| Singlesrecord | 496–274 |
|---|
| Singlestitles | 11 |
|---|
| Highestsinglesranking | No. 4 (8 July 2002) |
|---|
| Australianopenresult | 4R (2000, 2001, 2002) |
|---|
| Frenchopenresult | SF (2004) |
|---|
| Wimbledonresult | SF (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002) |
|---|
| Usopenresult | SF (2004) |
|---|
| Doublesrecord | 89–81 |
|---|
| Doublestitles | 4 |
|---|
| Highestdoublesranking | No. 62 (21 February 2000) |
|---|
| Updated | 1 February 2008 |
|---|
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE (born 6 September 1974) is a British retired professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. Having reached six Grand Slam semi-finals, won 15 career ATP titles (11 in singles and 4 in doubles), and been ranked number 4 in the world, Henman was one of Britain's most successful open era male tennis players. His great grandfather played at Wimbledon. His maternal grandfather, Henry Billington, played at Wimbledon between 1948 and 1951, plus representing Britain in the Davis Cup in 1948, 1950 and 1951. In 1901 his maternal great-grandmother, Ellen Stanwell-Brown (or Ellen Mary Stowell-Brown),
Henman was privately educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and later at Reed's School, Cobham, Surrey, where he passed 10 GCSE exams, combining school with a tennis scholarship. Between the ages of 10 and 17 he was a member of the David Lloyd Slater Squad, where he trained alongside a number of other young British tennis hopefuls. Henman won many titles at various different tournaments.
While at school, Henman was diagnosed with osteochondritis, a bone disease (one form of chondritis). However, he continued to play tennis. In 1992 won the National Junior titles in singles and doubles, deciding to join the professional tour in 1993.
On 11 December 1999, Henman married his long-term girlfriend, TV producer Lucy Heald in Hampshire. London, 19 October 2002), 15 December 2004), and Grace (born 14 September 2007).
Henman supports Oxford United Football Club and is a keen golfer, playing off scratch.
In 2010, he was appointed chief hero of England in a GQ poll.
Professional career
Henman climbed up the rankings very quickly. In 1994, he was among the top 200 players in the world; by 1995, among the top 100; and by 1996, he had made it into the top 30 and won a medal at the
Atlanta Olympics. He was the UK's highest ranked player that year, and won the
Most Improved Player trophy at the
ATP awards. He was subsequently elected to the ATP Tour Player Council and went on to win his first championship in January 1997. In March of that year, he underwent surgery on his elbow which kept him out of action for two months.
During his early career he became the first player ever to be disqualified from the Wimbledon tournament in 1995. The young Henman thrashed a ball in a fit of pique during a doubles match, striking ball girl Caroline Hall on the head. He made a public apology after the incident.
Henman came to the attention of the wider tennis world in 1996 when he came from match point down to beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round at Wimbledon, going on to reach the quarter finals before losing to Todd Martin. By the time he reached the last 16 at the US Open later in the year, he was firmly established as a top player.
He won his first ATP Tour title in January 1997, beating Carlos Moyá at the Sydney International event. He again reached the quarter-final at Wimbledon. In 1998 he went one better, reaching the semi-final for the first time, by which time he was ranked as one of the top 10 ATP players.
"Tiger Tim" as he is known to the British tabloids and Wimbledon die hards, even today the phrase "come on Tim" nostalgically rings out from time to time (many of whom assemble on Henman Hill, unofficially named after him) - came close to reaching the final on a number of occasions, losing in the semi-finals in 1998, 1999, 2001 (when just two points from victory at one point) and 2002. In 2000 he reached the fourth round and in 1996, 1997, 2003 and 2004 he lost in the quarter-finals. Two of those semi-final losses were to Pete Sampras. In another, he lost to Lleyton Hewitt who was ranked number 1 in the world at the time.
One of the tournaments in which he has been most successful is Queen's Club. He reached the final in 1999, where he lost to Pete Sampras, and went on to reach the final again in 2001 and 2002, where both times he lost to Lleyton Hewitt.
2001 was arguably Henman's best Wimbledon year. He beat the emerging Roger Federer in 4 sets during the quarter-final to reach the semi-finals minus defending champion Pete Sampras who had been knocked out (by Federer). Henman faced three-time finalist Goran Ivanišević, who was likewise seeking his first Wimbledon title. Ivanišević won in five sets, after rain had stopped the match in the fourth when Henman was in a dominant position, two sets to one up.
In 2002, Hemnan again reached the Wimbledon semifinals, losing to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. He reached a career-high #4 in the ATP rankings in July under the tutelage of Larry Stefanki.
In 2003 Henman took his first and only ATP Masters Series title, winning the Paris Masters against Andrei Pavel. Henman beat several high-ranked players on his way to the final, including Nikolay Davydenko, Sébastien Grosjean, Gustavo Kuerten, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. He only lost one set in the entire competition. Later in the year, Henman was created an OBE in the 2003 New Year's Honours List. He was painted by Royal artist Christian Furr in 2005.
2004 was arguably Henman's best year on tour. Until 2004, Henman had never progressed beyond the fourth round of any grand slam apart from Wimbledon. However, at the French Open he reached the semi-finals beating many accomplished clay-court players on the way using a serve and volley technique uncommon to clay courts. He was beaten by tournament favourite and eventual runner-up Guillermo Coria after winning the first set, the first that the Argentine had lost during the championships. Henman then continued his form and reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. Later that year, he added another grand slam semi-final appearance, at the U.S. Open, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer. Finally, at the end of year he qualified for the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, due to the above results. In the 2004 Summer Olympics tennis event, Henman was seeded fourth, but lost in the first round.
In 2005, he lost in straight sets to Nikolay Davydenko in the third round of the Australian Open. This was considered a disappointing result considering his improvement at Grand Slams the previous year, it would however turn out to be the last time he progressed beyond the second round of a major in his career. He went out in the second round at both the French Open and Wimbledon. In France, he lost in four sets to Luis Horna. At Wimbledon, he lost in five sets to Dmitry Tursunov. At the US Open he lost in straight sets in the first round to Fernando Verdasco.
, 2005]]
, playing Dmitry Tursunov.]]
Henman ended an eight-match losing streak against Lleyton Hewitt on 25 March 2006, with a 7–6, 6–3 victory at the Nasdaq-100 event in Miami. However, 3 months later at the 2006 Stella Artois Championships, Henman lost to Lleyton Hewitt 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 in the semi-finals.
Henman's results in the latter part of his career saw him slip down the rankings to number 62, leading to him being unseeded at Wimbledon in 2006 for the first time in a number of years. At that Wimbledon championships, he lost in the second round to eventual champion Federer, 6–4, 6–0, 6–2, after a five-set victory over Robin Söderling of Sweden in the first round. After this, Henman's results saw an improvement and his world ranking increased to number 39. However, he continued to suffer from injury problems.
In September 2006, Henman played two tournaments in the far east. Starting in Bangkok, Henman reached the Quarter Finals where he lost to Paradorn Srichaphan 6–7 6–4 7–6. Henman then reached his first final since 2004 (Indian Wells) at the AIG Open in Tokyo, losing to Roger Federer 6–3 6–3.
Although Henman was scheduled to play in both Basel & Paris at the end of the 2006 season, he lost in the second round in Basel against the rising Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka 2–6, 7–6, 6–4. He twisted a knee; he did not retire but resorted to a less mobile game that saw Wawrinka win.
On Henman's last practice session before departing for the Australian Open at the start of 2007, having recovered from his knee injury, he injured his hamstring which forced him to withdraw from the tournament. He returned in time to enter Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami after withdrawing from Rotterdam & Zagreb but lost in the first round in both of them.
After these tournaments Henman travelled back to the UK to help defeat the Netherlands 4–1 by winning both his rubbers in straight sets in the Davis Cup Euro-Africa Zone match at the Birmingham NEC. The victory allowed Great Britain a play off against Croatia for the World Group in October 2007, played on Court 1 at Wimbledon. Henman took part alongside Andy Murray.
Henman's poor luck with injury and form continued into the 2007 clay court season with first round losses to Juan Carlos Ferrero 7–5 6–2 in Monaco, Nicolás Almagro 7–5, 6–1 in Rome and a poor showing against 18 year old grand slam debutant Ernests Gulbis 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 in the French Open. Henman's clay court season ended without a single set won. His Grass court season got underway on 12 June 2007 at Queens Club, but was put to an abrupt end by Croatian wildcard entry Marin Čilić. However, he ended the day with a doubles victory with partner Lleyton Hewitt over Australian Jordan Kerr and Austrian Alexander Peya. An early loss at a grass court event in Nottingham was followed up with a poor showing at Wimbledon, with Henman losing in the second round to Feliciano López in 5 sets.
Retirement
Henman announced at a press conference on 23 August 2007 that he would retire from tennis after the
Davis Cup match against
Croatia in September 2007.
Henman defeated his rival Dmitry Tursunov (who had won five of their six previous matches ) in the 1st round of the US Open 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in what many had assumed would be his final grand slam match. He did in fact compete in his final grand slam match on 31 August 2007 and was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7–6 (7–2), 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 in the second round. Henman seemed slugglish compared to his first round match and threw away serving for the first set.
Henman played his final match in the Davis Cup tie against Croatia on 22 September 2007. The doubles match with Jamie Murray was played on Court 1 at Wimbledon which they won 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 7-5. The match put Great Britain in an unassailable 3–0 lead and back in the World Group, with the doubles win being added to singles wins the previous day from Henman and Andy Murray. After the match Henman told Sue Barker in an interview on BBC Television and in front of the Court 1 crowd, "It's occasions like this and fans like this that I will miss so much".
At the time of his retirement Henman, had already committed to playing a Charity Exhibition at London's Royal Albert Hall during the Seniors Tennis Event The Blackrock Masters in December 2007. Henman's opponent was veteran Swede and former Wimbledon Champion Stefan Edberg, Tim won the pro-set 8–4.
Henman became part of the commentary team for the BBC coverage of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and 2009 Wimbledon Championships.
Henman took part in a test event for the adoption of the centre court roof in May 2009 and played mixed doubles with Kim Clijsters against husband and wife team Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
Henman appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 26 June 2009.
Career finals
Singles: 28 (11-17)
;Wins (11)
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
|width="80"|Outcome
|width="20"|No.
| style="width:120px;"|Date
| style="width:280px;"|Championship
|width="75"|Surface
| style="width:200px;"|Opponent in the final
| style="width:200px;"|Score in the final
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 1.
| 30 December 1996
| Doha, Qatar
| Hard
| Jim Courier
| 5–7, 7–6, 2–6
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 2.
| 17 February 1996
| Antwerp, Belgium
| Hard (i)
| Marc Rosset
| 2–6, 5–7, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 1.
| 6 January 1997
| Sydney, Australia
| Hard
| Carlos Moyà
| 6–3, 6–1
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 2.
| 8 September 1997
| Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| Hard
| Marc Rosset
| 7–6, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 3.
| 12 January 1998
| Sydney, Australia
| Hard
| Karol Kučera
| 5–7, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 4.
| 27 July 1998
| Los Angeles, USA
| Hard
| Andre Agassi
| 4–6, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 3.
| 14 September 1998
| Tashkent, Uzbekistan
| Hard
| Yevgeny Kafelnikov
| 7–5, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 4.
| 5 October 1998
| Basel, Switzerland
| Hard (i)
| Andre Agassi
| 6–4, 6–3, 3–6, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 5.
| 4 January 1999
| Doha, Qatar
| Hard
| Rainer Schüttler
| 4–6, 7–5, 1–6
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 6.
| 15 February 1999
| Rotterdam, Netherlands
| Carpet (i)
| Yevgeny Kafelnikov
| 2–6, 6–7
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 7.
| 7 June 1999
| London (Queen's Club), UK
| Grass
| Pete Sampras
| 7–6, 4–6, 6–7
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 8.
| 4 October 1999
| Basel, Switzerland
| Carpet (i)
| Karol Kučera
| 4–6, 6–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 9.
| 14 February 2000
| Rotterdam, Netherlands
| Hard (i)
| Cédric Pioline
| 7–6, 4–6, 6–7
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 10.
| 6 March 2000
| Scottsdale, USA
| Hard
| Lleyton Hewitt
| 4–6, 6–7
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 11.
| 7 August 2000
| Cincinnati, USA
| Hard
| Thomas Enqvist
| 6–7, 4–6
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 5.
| 9 October 2000
| Vienna, Austria
| Hard (i)
| Tommy Haas
| 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 6.
| 20 November 2000
| Brighton, UK
| Hard (i)
| Dominik Hrbatý
| 6–2, 6–2
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 7.
| 12 February 2001
| Copenhagen, Denmark
| Hard (i)
| Andreas Vinciguerra
| 6–3, 6–4
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 12.
| 11 June 2001
| London (Queen's Club), UK
| Grass
| Lleyton Hewitt
| 6–7, 6–7
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 8.
| 22 October 2001
| Basel, Switzerland
| Carpet (i)
| Roger Federer
| 6–3, 6–4, 6–2
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 9.
| 31 December 2001
| Adelaide, Australia
| Hard
| Mark Philippoussis
| 6–4, 6–7, 6–3
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 13.
| 18 February 2002
| Rotterdam, Netherlands
| Hard (i)
| Nicolas Escudé
| 6–3, 6–7, 4–6
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 14.
| 11 March 2002
| Indian Wells, USA
| Hard
| Lleyton Hewitt
| 1–6, 2–6
|-
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 15.
| 10 June 2002
| London (Queen's Club), UK
| Grass
| Lleyton Hewitt
| 6–4, 1–6, 4–6
|-
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 10.
| 28 July 2003
| Washington, USA
| Hard
| Fernando González
| 6–3, 6–4
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner
| 11.
| 27 October 2003
| Paris, France
| Carpet (i)
| Andrei Pavel
| 6–2, 7–6, 7–6
|- bgcolor="#dfe2e9"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 16.
| 8 March 2004
| Indian Wells, USA
| Hard
| Roger Federer
| 3–6, 3–6
|- bgcolor="#d0f0c0"
| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up
| 17.
| 2 October 2006
| Tokyo, Japan
| Hard
| Roger Federer
| 3–6, 3–6
|}
Doubles record
;Wins (4)
;Runner-ups (2)
:Note: The Tennis Masters Series, Masters Series and ATP Masters Series Events - as they are variously referred to, are a group of tournaments with more prestige than normal tour events, but less importance than the Grand Slams.
Performance timeline
A = did not participate in the tournament
LQ = lost in qualifying draw
SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
References
Further reading
External links
Category:1974 births
Category:Living people
Category:British male tennis players
Category:English tennis players
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Old Dragons
Category:Old Reedonians
Category:Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain
Category:Olympic tennis players of Great Britain
Category:People from Oxfordshire
Category:Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Category:Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
![1493 woodcut of the City of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle. Basel English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/ or Basle /ˈbɑːl/ (German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city with 166,209 inhabitants.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110414011516im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/75/cb/f937b607bcceb9aeb6b6d9beca85_grande.jpg "1493 woodcut of the City of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle. Basel English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/ or Basle /ˈbɑːl/ (German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city with 166,209 inhabitants.")
![Basel (English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/), also spelled Basle (/ˈbɑːl/); German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,209[1] inhabitants (2008)). With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area (as of 2004), Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110414011516im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/ec/bf/45159efd2fb5303391d5fdda3fa0_grande.jpg "Basel (English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/), also spelled Basle (/ˈbɑːl/); German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,209[1] inhabitants (2008)). With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area (as of 2004), Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area.")
![1493 woodcut of the City of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle. Basel English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/ or Basle /ˈbɑːl/ (German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city with 166,209 inhabitants.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110414011516im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/75/cb/f937b607bcceb9aeb6b6d9beca85_thumb.jpg "1493 woodcut of the City of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle. Basel English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/ or Basle /ˈbɑːl/ (German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city with 166,209 inhabitants.")
![Basel (English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/), also spelled Basle (/ˈbɑːl/); German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,209[1] inhabitants (2008)). With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area (as of 2004), Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110414011516im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/ec/bf/45159efd2fb5303391d5fdda3fa0_thumb.jpg "Basel (English pronunciation: /ˈbɑːzəl/), also spelled Basle (/ˈbɑːl/); German: Basel, pronounced [ˈbaːzəl]; French: Bâle [bɑl]; Italian: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]; Romansh: Basilea [baziˈlɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,209[1] inhabitants (2008)). With 830000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area (as of 2004), Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area.")
