Wimbledon: Murray Rises From Henman's Ashes

Andrew Murray will never become the first Englishman to win the Wimbledon singles title since Fred Perry. And neither now will Tim Henman.

For the first time since 1995, when he made his second appearance at the All England club as a pencil thin 20-year-old, Henman failed to get beyond the second round. And this on the same day that Scotland's Murray, who has just turned 18, reached the last 32 on his Wimbledon debut with a magnificent 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Radek Stepanek, the 14th seed.

The grass on Court One, the scene of Murray's triumph, did not turn tartan, although those with a vivid imagination might have sworn they saw the Centre Court edged in funereal black. It has become Henman's second home, with the British No1 having played four semi-finals there. Yesterday it fell silent, as did Henman hill.

Henman used to maintain that it was his destiny to one day lift the golden pot, but his 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 second round defeat by the Californian-based Russian Dmitry Tursunov, ranked outside the world's top 150, surely put an end to that belief.

Understandably Henman, who will be 31 in September, bridled at suggestions that he might be close to quitting or that he cannot still win the title. "I'll keep trying," he said. "I love what I do, and I'm still pretty good at it." However this defeat will drop him out of the world's top 10, and should he falter at the US Open this year then he could quickly find himself outside the top 20.

If this happens Henman will find himself playing the likes of Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick in the earlier rounds of the leading tournaments. With his back and shoulder continuing to give him frequent problems, it is unlikely he would have the resolve, or the physical capacity, to clamber back. Greg Rusedski has found it impossible.

Henman made a huge effort last year, reaching the semifinals of the French and US Opens for the first time, coupled with a fourth quarter-final here. It appears to have taken its toll. Tursunov hits the ball reasonably hard, but not greatly harder than any number of players on the circuit.

Henman lost in the third round of the Australian Open this year against another Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, and then went out in the second round at Roland Garros against the unconsidered Luis Horna of Peru. In 11 tournaments this year, including the three slams, he has been unable to get beyond the quarter- finals, and the last of his 11 career singles victories was at the 2003 Paris Indoor Open.

This defeat against Tursunov, who before yesterday had failed to win consecutive matches all year, was all too predictable given Henman's recent results and his confused mental state coming into Wimbledon. He strongly believes the courts and the balls have changed so much during the past four years that his chances of winning his first grass title here have been ruined accordingly.

At Queen's, where he lost meekly in the quarter-finals to Thomas Johansson, he claimed he had not played well at Wimbledon since his rain-interrupted 2001 semi-final against Goran Ivanisevic, which was by far his best chance of reaching the final.

Henman also disputed any assertion that grass was his best surface. Against Jarkko Nieminen in the first round, and against Tursunov, it was easy to see why. The pressure on Henman here has always been immense, and over the years he has coped wonderfully well. Now, as with Rusedski, age has seeped into his legs, and the game has moved on - for the better at Wimbledon with its much more even bounce thanks to less friable grass.

Henman has always been a lightweight in a heavyweight world, but his brilliant volleying skills helped even the odds.

Now he is beginning to look slow and vulnerable. The beginning had belied the ending. After his previous five-setter against Nieminen, when for the first time at Wimbledon he had recovered after being two sets down, Henman began with the crispness of a freshly cut Cos lettuce.

Tursunov relinquished his serve immediately, and thereafter in the first set his most notable shot was a double-fisted backhand service return that came close to decapitating the Swiss umpire Andreas Egli.

Henman broke the Russian a second time at 5-3, enabling him to begin serving in the second set and press home his advantage for a 6-3, 1-0 lead. He was then twice within a couple of points of stretching the advantage, only for Tursunov to start pulling out the sort of serves that were ultimately to both undermine and eventually sink Henman.

Having won the third set it briefly appeared as if he might survive. However the longer the match went on, the stronger the 22-year-old Tursunov, who suffered a career threatening back injury of his own in 2002, became. Nerves prevented him winning the match at 5-4, Henman saving two match points, but it only delayed the inevitable.

Henman Hill has not quite become Murray's Mountain yet, although there were clear intimations of Murraymania around the All England club. The king is dead; long live the young pretender.