Tennis: Henman Looking to Get Some Form

Tim Henman will hope to be spurred on by the familiar surroundings of Queen’s this week as he tries to halt his decline in form. The British No2 has won only once in a season marred by injury and his misery continued at the French Open, where he lost to the 18-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.

Henman admitted at Roland Garros that his confidence was low but now hopes the grass courts at the Artois Championships, where he has reached three previous finals, will provide a turning point.

"The consistency I’ve had at Queen’s over the last 10 years is something I’m very proud of," he said. "I still believe I can win events like Queen’s. On any given day I still think I can beat anyone. As I’ve got older it’s become harder to come back time and time again. But grass always gives me more confidence because, although it has changed over the years, I still think there are fewer guys who are really that comfortable on it."

Marin Cilic, a 19-year-old Croatian wildcard entry, is his first-round opponent and he is set for a third-round meeting with Lleyton Hewitt, Henman’s conqueror in the semi-finals last year and in the Queen’s finals of 2001 and 2002.

Henman admits the Artois tournament is one of his favorite dates on the calendar. "I have such great memories from Queen’s because it’s my home tournament - more so than even Wimbledon. I have practiced at Queen’s for a large part of my career and the surroundings are so familiar. It’s a great tournament and I’m really looking forward to getting back there."

The former world No4 said he needed to play to his strengths. "It’s harder to do now because the surfaces are slower and the balls are a bit heavier," said Henman. "I don’t serve as big as I’d like to be able to serve and volley all the time. The guys return serve so well now. But I need to play to my strengths and volleying is my greatest strength. Few guys volley well now."

With the top eight seeds receiving a bye in the first round, Hewitt, seeded six, opens his title defence against either a qualifier or Kristian Pless. The top seed, Rafael Nadal, having tied up his third French Open running, begins his grasscourt campaign against Juan Martin del Potro or the former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson. In the bottom half of the draw Andy Roddick, the No2 seed, will face Radek Stepanek or Davide Sanguinetti in his opening match.

Anne Keothavong, the British No1, will have the incentive of a potential match against Maria Sharapova when she begins her campaign in the DFS Classic in Birmingham today, though she will need to beat 16-year-old Tamira Paszek, the world No72 from Austria, and Meilen Tu, the 13th-seeded American.

Sharapova, the favorite and DFS Classic champion of 2004 and 2005, has a bye into the second round and will open against either Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan or a qualifier.

The unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat the second seed Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-6 to win the Surbiton Trophy yesterday.

The final featured only one break of serve and 20 aces, 14 of which were delivered by the Croatian, but Tsonga dug deep from his reserves of stamina to win.

On Saturday Brenda Schultz-McCarthy fought back to beat Ayumi Morita 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 to win the women's final. The Japanese 17-year-old took the first set and looked set for a straight-sets victory when she broke Shultz-McCarthy early in the second. However, the 36-year-old produced a more aggressive approach in the eighth game, which helped her level the match, before edging the third set tie-break.