Tim Henman pre-Oz Open (Article)

[Phil]

From the Times of London:

Henman grabs early chance to question Federer's domination
By Mark Hodgkinson in Melbourne
(Filed: 13/01/2005)

It may only be an exhibition event in suburbia, at a sedate club where most of the crowd sit unprotected on green wooden benches and burn up in the afternoon sun, but when Tim Henman meets Roger Federer at the Kooyong Classic it will have a considerable impact on how both arrive for next week's Australian Open.

Not that Henman, who plays Federer in the early hours of tomorrow, was in the mood yesterday to discuss at length the importance of acquiring a little swagger about him before the first Grand Slam of the season. Henman was deeply affected by the images from the tsunami disaster across Asia, and spoke for the first time about "the terrible tragedy".


Tim Henman: "Tsunami tragedy put everything into perspective"
Henman, who became a father for the second time last month after the birth of Olivia, said that it "does not really matter" how he fares on court. "I turned on the television and I saw what had happened in Asia, the terrible tragedy, and that put everything into perspective," Henman said in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph.

"Does it really matter whether I win or lose a tennis match? It's only a game. I'm very passionate about my job, I do care whether I win and I am having a lot of fun with my tennis at the moment, but after what happened in Asia, with all those dead and so many millions of victims, what I do on the tennis court is not so important."

This display of humanity from the British No1 was hardly surprising. He does a lot of work for children's charities in Britain, much of it unnoticed, and has always been more of a thoughtful, sensitive soul than his public are allowed to see. "What is happening outside the court, and by that I mostly mean my family, is just a small piece of the puzzle, but it can partly affect how I am playing," he said.

He was in reflective mood after his first work-out of the year, a 6-1, 7-5 win over David Nalbandian, an Argentine he had beaten just once in five previous meetings. Henman also disclosed that he was still suffering with soreness in his back after he "did nothing" for two weeks during the off-season. Henman, 30, said that he had not listened to the advice of his coach, Paul Annacone. "Paul has said on several occasions, and it's probably fallen on deaf ears, that you probably can't go longer than two or three days doing nothing. However much I enjoyed two weeks without doing anything, I don't think it was very productive. I'm not the most flexible. The body doesn't recover as quick as it used to," he said.

The Australian Open is the only one of the four Grand Slam events in which Henman has failed to reach a semi-final. The furthest he has managed at Melbourne Park, which has rubberised compound courts and warm air that should suit his attack-attack style of tennis, is the fourth round.

Still, he should not worry about the troublesome back too much (which is improving anyway). Henman felt fairly queasy at the start of last season's French Open and suffered back spasms before the US Open, but made the semi-finals at both tournaments for the first time. Could another medical mini-crisis prod him along, keeping him relaxed and playing some of his best, aggressive tennis?

"But surely I should be able to come in 100 per cent fit but still have that same attitude?" he said. "I would like to think that I'm getting a little bit better at that. I want to make sure that by Sunday night I'm 100 per cent physically, then perhaps that would give me the chance to do something better than the French Open and US Open."

An appearance in Kooyong was slightly unexpected from Henman, as he had previously vowed never to return to this eight-man exhibition event. That was back in the days when Henman "struggled in his mind" how to play at these sideshows, unsure whether to focus on the result or the performance. Not now, though.

How can Henman not benefit from playing a match against Federer, the world No 1 and the defending champion at the Australian Open?

"It is different playing Roger in an exhibition rather than a tournament proper, but I think it can be so constructive on the court in a match environment. If you've got a purpose while you're out there it will obviously helps things dramatically," he said.

If Henman does defeat Federer, the boost in confidence before Monday will be beyond measure. Henman's high-risk game, throwing himself forward into the net whenever possible, can cramp the Swiss's style. Henman was one of the few players to beat Federer last season.

Another defeat tomorrow would shake up Federer. He has not lost a match, whether in a tournament or an exhibition, since August. "It's going to be fun," Henman said, who was enjoying himself so much against Nalbandian that there was a suspicion, however small, that he could even have been show-boating on a couple of the volleys. Strange, and fascinating, to see.


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Henman's Australian Open record

2004

1st rd bt Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

2nd rd bt Radek Stepanek 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

3rd rd lost to Guillermo Canas 7-6,7-5, 6-7, 5-7, 7-9.

2003

Absent (shoulder injury)

2002

1st rd bt Todd Larkham 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

2nd rd bt Vladimir Voltchkov 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

3rd rd bt Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

4th rd lost to Jonas Bjorkman 2-6, 6-7, 4-6.

2001

1st rd bt Hicham Arazi 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.

2nd rd bt Nicolas Lapentti 6-1, 7-6, 7-6.

3rd rd bt Wayne Arthurs 6-3, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2.

4th rd lost to Pat Rafter 2-6, 3-6, 3-6.

2000

1st rd bt Jerome Golmard 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6.

2nd rd bt Rainer Schuttler 6-2, 4-1 retd.

3rd rd bt Sebastien Grosjean 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.

4th rd lost to Chris Woodruff 5-7, 6-1, 4-6 6-3, 5-7.

1999

1st rd bt Karim Alami 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

2nd rd bt Sandon Stolle 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

3rd rd lost to Marc Rosset 6-7, 3-6, 5-7.

1998

1st rd lost to Jerome Golmard 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 9-11.

1997

1st rd bt Andrei Pavel 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

2nd rd bt Guillaume Raoux 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

3rd rd lost to Michael Chang 1-6, 6-7, 3-6.

1996

1st rd bt Peter Korda 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.

2nd rd lost to Jonas Bjorkman 1-6, 3-6, 2-6.

 

[Russell Finch]

Here's another one in which Federer claims that Henman gave him his "toughest match of the tournament by far" at the US Open.

Henman makes dazzling start to new campaign
From Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent in Melbourne



IF TIM HENMAN could bottle the first set of his first match of 2005 and call upon it whenever he needed a sprinkling of brilliance, there could be a vintage flourish to what is left of his career. Of course, it does not work like that, as he will probably find today when he crosses swords with the latest finest player in the world to sweep across his radar.
There will be those who pooh-pooh exhibition matches — after all, they do not register on the computer that determines which player is accorded which ranking, but the fact that six of the 2004 top ten have chosen the Kooyong Classic as their preparation for the Australian Open gives some indication of the quality on offer at the Lawn Tennis Club, which staged the grand-slam championship until it grew too big for the club ’s quaint confines.



What promoter would not give all the silver he could muster for such a field and now Roger Federer, the world No 1, plays Henman, who dropped a place to No 7 behind Guillermo Coria, of Argentina, in the first week of the new year through not defending the ranking points accrued for reaching the semi-finals in Doha last year. A round-robin match may be all that it is in reality, but imagine what an effect it could have on Henman should he win it.

Andy Roddick was playing Andre Agassi last night in similar circumstances and anyone who says that is going to be a knockabout between friends needs their brains tested. “We live and die each week on doing the right things and we will be playing mind games with ourselves and each other,” Roddick said, “but of course we want to focus on doing the right things and to win.”

It will be the same between Henman and Federer. Once upon a time, before some sort of magic was visited upon him, the Swiss used to worry that Henman was one player who could muddle with his mind and mix up his game to an extent that he felt especially vulnerable. That has changed, but Federer’s regard for Henman is as genuine as the man himself. In the midst of his parade through New York after his US Open triumph in September, Federer stopped to ask how critical I had been of Henman’s loss to him in the semi- finals. “He gave me my toughest match of the tournament by far,” Federer said. “Remember that. He is a great player.”

That was the word for Henman’s first 31 minutes against David Nalbandian. Apparently, Nalbandian had to be woken from a deep sleep in the locker-room a quarter of an hour before the match and 45 minutes later he was on the end of some eye-opening exhibition tennis. Henman may have been flexing his back muscles — that is a pain that may never go away — but he was unleashing all his best shots, serving with power and penetration, striking the ball cleanly when he had time and when he did not and being as solid as a rock beneath anything that Nalbandian tried to spin above his head.

It was asking a lot for such form to be sustained in a player’s first effort of a new campaign, especially in temperatures that approached 30C (86F). Henman stuttered in the second set, having to recover from break points down in two service games before the Argentinian broke him when he served for the match at 5-4. Then, inexplicably, Nalbandian tossed in three successive double faults and at the second time of asking, Henman did not flinch in securing a 6-1, 7-5 victory.

He then said that he should have listened more attentively when Paul Annacone, his coach, said that he should not take too long away from the sport during the holiday period if he wanted to come back at full steam. “Paul said I couldn’t really go two or three days without doing anything,” Henman said, “even if it means hitting for 20 minutes, jumping on a treadmill or a bike for ten. As much as I enjoyed two weeks doing nothing, it wasn’t so productive. The body doesn’t recover as quickly as it used to.”

With the greatest of respect to the talents who lost on the opening day here, Colin Stubs, the tournament director who was treated so shabbily when he lost the same job at the Australian Open, has the two stellar matches of meaning he wished for in Roddick v Agassi and Henman v Federer. In all probability, two of the four will appear in his final on Saturday. It is brewing nicely.

Jennifer Capriati has withdrawn from next week’s Australian Open because of an injury to her right shoulder. The American, champion at Melbourne Park in 2001 and 2002, had previously pulled out of this week’s Sydney International. The news is a **** to the Open’s organisers, who are already without Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, last year’s champion and runner-up.

 

[BLiND]

Nice reading... hope he does well

 

[rhubarb]

Very interesting to read that Federer thought of his match against Henman as the toughest one, considering he had had to go to five sets with Agassi.

 

[GrassCourtFan]

Hehe. And Henman slacked off during the off-season. So the top pros are human too!

 

[rhubarb]

Yeah, two whole weeks! Probably had his hands full of dirty nappies.