Henman Plots a Route Through the Madness

"I sometimes think," Tim Henman says, "here we go again. Another year, another Wimbledon..." A tight flicker of a smile crosses his polite and angular face, disappearing almost as quickly as it emerges. "I obviously know what to expect and so I understand how important it is for me to cut out all the sensationalism. My coach Paul Annacone once used this phrase that I now remember this time every year: 'You've got to insulate yourself from the madness.'"

It is as if, with a weary sigh, an increasingly battered 30-year-old has already begun to steel himself against the absurd expectations foisted on him each Wimbledon by the Union Flag-waving hordes on Henman Hill.

Yet he is quick to stress that, preparing for his 12th championships, he is even more equipped to ignore the sneering and sniggering of those either perched in the press box or slumped in front of their television sets as they reap what Henman describes as a "very British" pleasure in predicting his continuing failure to fulfil a seemingly impossible dream - of finally winning Wimbledon and so ending the dismal pattern stretching back to that sepia-tinted moment when Fred Perry lifted this country's last men's singles title in 1936.

"Of course I've got to use some of the more positive emotion - especially in terms of the crowd support on court. I just block out the rest of it. You've got to be pretty strong mentally to do that when the attention is so intense. But I think I've shown that. I've done a good job at Wimbledon, whatever anyone else expects or thinks."

Having appeared in eight quarter-finals over the last nine years, and four semis, Henman's record on the grass of SW19 has been remarkably consistent. Yet the fevered question as to whether he might actually win Wimbledon - on a suitably mythic "one day" - is now asked much more coolly.

His previous two championships have ended in the quarters - losing to players ranked below him in Sébastien Grosjean and Mario Ancic - and Henman has endured a frustrating 2005. In contrast to his startling success before Wimbledon last year, when he reached the semi-finals of the French Open, Henman's now fitful form has continued in recent weeks. He suffered an early defeat in Paris and then lost against Thomas Johansson at Queen's.

While he is smart enough to concede that "winning is the best preparation for anything", the fantasy still lingers - even if Henman sounds wistful as he peddles his diminishing hopes at Wimbledon. "I believe I can win any tournament I enter, so my approach is not going to change this year. Of course you have to see who you end up playing and you need to analyse your main rivals but my experience of Wimbledon and grass-court tennis is now so great that I still believe in my chances. Why not?"

As to the stronger hopes of those ranked above him, Henman, seeded sixth, selects a contrasting trio of players. "Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick are the three guys you'd pick out as definitely my toughest opponents. But I've got to get into a position where I'm playing those kind of players at Wimbledon. You want to be up against the very best in the world at crunch time. Those matches are not fun - they're incredibly tough - but that's where you have to be. That's when I can let it all hang out and really go for it."

Henman has always looked mildly uncomfortable when he has tried to "let it all hang out" in the past but he has abandoned much of the forced fist-pumping routine and claims that his pair of grand slam semi-finals last year in Paris and New York have instilled a more deep-rooted confidence in his ability.

"It was good to do it outside the bubble of Wimbledon and, even if this year has been up and down, I can draw on those positive experiences. It proved that I am a genuine grand slam contender. I'd already done that but sometimes the weather spoiled things or I simply faced some great players in the semis at Wimbledon."

Henman is haunted most by his rain-affected defeat over three days by Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 - when he was within a few games of reaching the final. He was also unlucky to face the masterly Pete Sampras in successive semi-finals in 1998 and 1999. "That was real grass-court tennis," Henman says nostalgically. "But Wimbledon has changed so much since then. The surface really doesn't help me as much. It's so much slower and the ball bounces higher."

Aware that his own prospects have become even more remote under such conditions, Henman shakes his head. "It's bizarre they've allowed this to happen at Wimbledon and I think it's a real issue for the game. You don't want everyone playing the same way because variety is obviously important for the future of tennis."

Rafael Nadal, the teenage sensation who defeated Federer en route to the French Open title this month, will certainly expect to prosper more on grass now than he might have done during Sampras's heyday.

Henman, however, insists that Federer is the clear favourite for this year's championship. "On the old grass courts I guess you could say Sampras was the best player there's ever been at Wimbledon but, if you compare their all-round games, then there's no doubt. Federer, for me, is the greatest-ever player."

Henman lets slip one of his happier crooked grins when he tries to explain the anomaly that "my record against Federer is still 6-3. He wasn't quite the same player in those early matches. His game has improved enormously and his confidence just rocketed.

"I also know that, if you give him time to use his full repertoire of shots, then he's going to run you ragged. But when I'm on top of my game, playing aggressively and coming forward, then he feels more pressure than usual to hit his passing shots. The only hope you've got against Federer is to force him into reacting to your style rather than allowing his sheer talent to dominate."

He might have beaten Federer six times but Henman has lost all eight of his matches against the less gifted but relentlessly pugnacious Hewitt. "I know it seems strange but my game really matches up well against Federer. It's just not the same against Hewitt."

The defiant Australian has just returned from injury, while Federer beat Marat Safin in an absorbing final on the grass of Halle in Germany earlier this month. Yet Henman hesitates when asked which player he would most like to beat in his imaginary perfect final - an all-time great in Federer or his personal nemesis in Hewitt?

"That's a good question," he eventually laughs. "Federer or Hewitt? Hewitt or Federer?"

And then, as if even the shimmering fantasy of stepping out on court for his first Wimbledon final on July 3 is too much to contemplate, Henman shrugs again with disarming honesty.

He might be a multi-millionaire but the dream of Wimbledon, perhaps even to Henman himself, is finally looking worn and threadbare. "What the hell. Either one will do. Beggars can't be choosers."