Give Henman a Hand, Not a Backhand

I'm sitting drinking a Guinness at a local Wimbledon pub, just got done watching Tim Henman lose another heartbreaker, 8-6 in the fifth set to Russian via California Dimitri Tursunov in the second round at Wimbledon.

Despite a valiant effort, the hearts of England were again saddened and there was even some booing supposedly heard after the match. Actually, someone to my left here just uttered the most disparaging of remarks. Time for another big swig of the pint in front of me.

Poor Tim Henman. I mean that. You have to feel for the guy. Since he first showed signs of promise, he was anointed the savior of British tennis and the citizenry of the monarchy began declaring that he would one day win Wimbledon and take over the throne still held by the legendary Fred Perry. Inevitably, these same citizens would recount stories of how Virgina Wade, late in her career, found a way to win the Big W on its centennial, with the Queen in attendance. Ginny was a special player, and had special talent. It's no wonder that Tim Henman never had a chance.

With all the weight of the UK on his shoulders, Timmy has marched to SW19 every year, and played inspired tennis. Starting with a second round loss to the King of Wimbledon, Pete Sampras, in 1996, Henman has finished past the quarterfinals only once, in 2000. He has been in the semifinals four times (1998, 1999, 2001, and 2002.) The names of those who beat him are the likes of Michael Stich, Sampras, Goran Ivanisovic, and Alberto Martin. All of those are players of the highest quality and three are former champions here.

No one could argue that Tim's tennis skills have ever been quite at that level. In fact, he has played beyond his ability here at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. With more pressure on him then that used to form the Hope Diamond, Tim has stepped up to the plate every year. The poor guy doesn't deserve what the girls at the table behind me are saying about him.

Truth is, while the Brits all want so badly to see him win, the LTA and the powers at Wimbledon have done everything in their power to stop him. Now, I don't think that the LTA and All England seeding committee actually thought Goran Ivanisovic was going to win his historic championship, but wouldn't you know it, in one of the best years and opportunities for Tim, they put Goran into the draw with a wildcard. If they had followed tradition, they would have reserved that wildcard for some low-ranked, never-gonna-win LTA player. Most likely, Tim faces a much easier opponent in his semi, and probably goes on to win. The All England management has only themselves to blame for that one.

I read an article recently about all the changes in the tournament over the past decade. Every single change goes against Tim ever winning the title. First, the grass has been changed from a mixture of rye and red fescue grass to all rye. Then they cut the grass a little shorter. (I'm not an expert, but I'm told by a local greens keeper that the change of grass mixture and shorter cut would probably slow the ball down quite a bit.)

Then, in another ironic twist, Slazenger, the tennis company that sponsors Tim and provides him all his racquets, also provides for the balls at Wimbledon and delivers them two weeks before the tournament begins. The balls, by contract, are packaged in bins, out of their pressurized cans. These balls will lose their liveliness quickly, again slowing the pace of matches more. Now this year, again his sponsor Slazenger introduced a new "optic yellow" ball that makes the ball about a billion times easier to see and track on grass. Advantage: baseliner.

You would figure, if you wanted a player to win, if the UK is so hungry for a homegrown champion, you might do things to assist their game, not detract from it.

Well, now that Tim is gone in the first week, the pressure has shifted to the"New Henman," Andrew Murray of Scotland. Good luck, Andrew, get ready to carry the fate of a tennis nation on your shoulders alone. Oh, and just remember that you are supposed to win Wimbledon someday soon, maybe next year ... hell, they already have renamed "Henman Hill" to "Murray Mountain."

That's it for now. Everyone, please enjoy a safe, happy, and healthy Independence Day holiday.