Wimbledon: Henman Survives Horror Show

For the first time since Tim Henman made his debut as a 19-year-old in 1994 he was on the verge of losing in the first round at Wimbledon yesterday. As one of the inhabitants of Henman Hill graphically described his five-set torment against Finland's Jarkko Nieminen: "He was a bit pathetic today but I suppose he's a national treasure really."

It looked more like buried treasure as Nieminen, who had played no build-up matches for the grass because he had been otherwise occupied getting married, plundered a two-set lead. Henman pressed every self-destruct button that was available to him, yet somehow managed to eke out a 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory - only the fourth time in his career that he has turned around such a deficit.

"It was pretty clear to everyone that it was a struggle," Henman said. "He was certainly making life difficult for me and I was flat. For what ever reason I was a little bit nervous and I'll be looking to play a lot better next time." He will need to and with brass knobs on.

The crowd on Centre Court simply could not believe what they were seeing. Over the years they have become well versed in the trials and tribulations of Henman during the first week but this was an unprecedented horror show.

But it was not really unexpected. Henman's form has been brittle all this year, beginning at the Australian Open when Russia's Nikolay Davydenko knocked him out in the third round. Immediately afterwards he denied there had been anything wrong, only to reveal later that he had almost failed to get on the plane as his back had been so bad.

He has a degenerative disc problem that means his back is prone to sudden acute stiffness. Henman claims to have it under control, thanks to regular exercising, but it remains impossible to know exactly what effect it has on his play. So far this year he has not got beyond the quarter-finals of any competition, and this after he reached two grand slam semi-finals last year, at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows.

Undoubtedly his confidence was low coming into Wimbledon, even though, as was to be expected, he talked up his chances as best he could. Nevertheless his conversations have been littered with references to the slowness of the Wimbledon courts compared with 2001, when he lost to Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic in a rain-interrupted semi-final. And if it was not the grass he was complaining about, then it was the pressure of the balls.

By the time he lost in the quarter-finals of the Stella Artois championships at Queen's against Sweden's Thomas Johansson, these obsessions had reached levels close to paranoia. If somebody had sidled up to him from the Rip Up The Wimbledon Grass society, he would have signed without a second thought.

Against Johansson his tactics were horribly muddled and he had lost listlessly. The first two sets against Nieminen were an extension of that grass-court fog, anxiety descending on his every move. All rhythm on his serve had disappeared, his sliced backhand approaches died sad deaths into the net and even his volleying prowess had deserted him.

As against Peru's Luis Horna, whom Henman lost to in the second round of this year's French Open, he appeared altogether slower than his opponent. Nieminen bounded around the court with increasing exuberance, letting rip with any number of flashing winners that left Henman trudging back to the baseline, mumbling to himself and gri macing in agitation, while Paul Annacone, his coach, sank ever deeper into his seat.

There were brief vestiges of hope at the start of the second set when Henman broke Nieminen's serve. It was false gold. Then in the tie-break Henman opened up a 4-2 lead, only to let it slip. The slide towards a first-round defeat appeared unstoppable but to his immense credit, and with Centre Court desperately trying to draw him back into the match, Henman regrouped.

"Slowly but surely I started to play better and found a way to get through." The key was his serve and, just as the mire appeared to be sucking him into oblivion, his hands grasped solid ground.

Henman next plays the Californian-based Dmitry Tursunov, who last year reached the third round on his first appearance at Wimbledon, defeating his fellow Russian Marat Safin in the first round. Ordinarily Henman would not worry. After yesterday nobody would care to make any predictions.