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Tim Henman World |
Tim Henman
World
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21 November 2004 - Tim's matches in Houston Tim's time in Houston was mixed. After losing to Roddick in his first round robin match, Tim got back to form with an easy win over Guillermo Coria and with the other results in his group, it meant that his final match against Marat Safin decided who would go through to the semi finals with Roddick, Tim or Marat. Safin was certainly the man in form the last few weeks with back to back TMS victories in Madrid and Paris and Tim was certainly up against it. After losing his serve in the opening game, an uphill battle became worse when Marat raced to the first set 6-2. The second set was much closer with neither player gaining the advantage before they reached a tie break. Tim was not able to win the set and it left Marat through to the semis and Tim heading home.17 November 2004 - Tim loses opening match in Houston The weather has definitely affected the early matches in the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup (and this has affected how much of some matches have been on the TV). After two days, the tournament is just about on target but every match so far as been affected by the weather. Group 1 Group 2 Tim took the court last night against Andy Roddick in what had been described as a very difficult task - Roddick's home base is Austin in Texas (in American terms - a stone's throw away!). The match was exceedingly high standard with both players producing some of their best tennis and "wowing" the fans with all manner of groundshots and volleys but it was definitely the serve from Roddick which proved to be the deciding factor. The final result - Andy winning 7-5, 7-6 - showed just how close both players were and must have given Tim some confidence for his next matches against Coria and Safin. 5 November 2004 - Tim defeated in Paris Tim was beaten in straight sets by Mikhail Youzhny at the third round stage in Paris. As defending champion, I am sure that Tim wanted to do his best to defend his title but after he got his Houston place confirmed, it may be just as well for Tim get relax and recharge his batteries before flying to Texas for the Tennis Masters Cup which begins on 16th November. 3 November 2004 - Tim beats Paradorn Tim's last scheduled tournament is a return to his 2003 high point - Paris Bercy - which starts today. Tim is seeded 3 and after a bye in the first round, he easily came through his opening match against Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Third round action is scheduled for Thursday where Tim will play Mikhail Youzhny from Russia for a place in the quarter finals. 1 November 2004 - Tim returns to Paris Bercy Tim's last scheduled tournament is a return to his 2003 high point - Paris Bercy - which starts today. Tim is seeded 3 and has a bye in the first round. He will play either Mariano Zabaleta or Paradorn Srichaphan in his first match which will be either Tuesday or Wednesday. Tim now has a battle on his hands to get to Houston (after his closest rivals Agassi and Nalbandian did well in recent weeks). He needs to reach the quarter finals at least to guarantee his place in the TMC although he might get there anyway if either Guillermo Coria or Carlos Moya decides not to play. 28 October 2004 - Tim chases Houston TMC points in Basle Tim is back chasing points in the last chance race with Safin, Agassi, Moya and Coria to take one of the final 4 places at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston which takes place next month. This week Tim is seeded 2 in Basle - a tournament he particularly feels at home at because he has won it twice already - and has reached the quarter final stage by beating Dupuis 6-3, 6-4 and Weslie Moodie 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. Next up will be Jiri Novak and Tim will be hoping for some revenge after Novak beat him at the Olympics. In second round action earlier today, Tim had to fight tough - really tough - to get through his match against South African Weslie Moodie. Tim just could not get the hang of Moodie's service deliveries and thus was unable to break serve - that is until the very last game. Meanwhile, Tim's rivals for Houston places are continuing their progress in their respective tournaments: Agassi is in Stockholm whilst Safin has reached the quarter finals in St Petersburg. In other ATP news, it has been announced that the ATP will be supplying "safe" supplements to the ATP players during the 2005 season. After the various drugs cases recently, the ATP has been under pressure to organise something "safe" for the players since they have been too frightened to take just anything since the Greg Rusedski drugs case earlier this year. 22 October 2004 - Tim defeated by Ljubicic Tim was less than his usual self when he took the court against the Croatian number one, Ivan Ljubicic, and his stint as the top seed in Madrid was shortlived when Tim was defeated at the third round stage, which leaves Tim's other Houston rivals, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi to continue their surge towards strengthening their chances of getting to the Tennis Masters Cup which takes places next month. 20 October 2004 - Tim beats Costa After the bye in the first round, Tim played Albert Costa on the main stadium and came through with very little trouble 6-4, 6-2 in a quick fire match which lasted less than 90 minutes. Tim hardly made any errors and looked entirely comfortable on the indoor surface, especially as he has not played indoors since Rotterdam in February. In fact the only thing that Tim seemed to have trouble with was the flashing lights of the courtside advertisements. However, the talk of the first two days of the event have been the tournament's decision to employ models in very "skimpy" outfits to act as ball kids and has even brought in official complaints from the Spanish government and from Agassi, seeded 2, who completed his first match last night. Today the models seem to have been replaced by youngsters "more suitably" dressed. Meanwhile Tim's next match will be against Ivan Ljubicic and that is scheduled for Thursday. 18 October 2004 - Madrid TMS News Tim is finally back in ATP action this week at the Tennis Masters event in Madrid where he is seeded 1 after the motley crew of Federer, Roddick, Hewitt, Coria, Moya have all pulled out. Having missed both the Superset Tennis event and the ATP Lyon tournament, Tim has had a break which seems to have done him good. Tim has a bye in the first round and will face either Costa or Labadze. 30 September 2004 - Tim withdraws from Superset Tennis After aggravating his ongoing shoulder/back problems over the Davis Cup weekend, Tim has had to withdraw from the Superset Tennis event at the weekend. Tim is being replaced by Davis Cup colleague - new young superstar Andrew Murray. The draw for the Elimin8 round of the tournament has taken place and is as follows: Murray vs McEnroe 28 September 2004 - Davis Cup "Damp Squib" Another Davis Cup disaster. Neither Tim nor Greg was able to play up to the standard we are used to expect of them and yet again Great Britain have been relegated to Euro-Africa Group tennis for 2005 - or should I say stay where they are. Although the tie went down to the final rubber - thanks to Melzer being beaten by both Tim and Greg, the odds were stacked against the Brits even before the tie started: The Austrians had a hero leading them - ex number one Thomas Muster - and a team of 4 players who were also well seasoned in Davis Cup play, which ensured Muster had fresh players to call on for the doubles and reverse singles whilst Tim and Greg had to cope with the burden alone. Above is the brief description of what happened in Portschauch, Austria last weekend. Another attempt by Tim and Greg (and only Tim and Greg) to put Great Britain back in the World Group. Although I am (and have always been) a big patriotic British Tennis supporter, I was totally disillusioned by what I saw from the general team set up during the tie. This tie was never going to be easy. It was another case of the LTA and British media making out that Britain were the favourites and that the tie was "easy peesy" (even though the form book read otherwise). It was anything but easy. Aside from Austria being the team already in the World Group; they even had home advantage; they also had a truly inspiring captain in Thomas Muster - who as I said above is a hero to Austrian sportsmen with his achievements, determination and dedication that he showed during his long and successful tennis career (when he won the French Open and became World No. 1) - and a team of four players who have all had playing success in 2004 whilst both their singles players had achieved singles victories over Tim and Greg. Finally the Austrian team also had history on their side in that they had played 3 ties at this Portschauch venue and had won them all. On the British side we have Tim and Greg who have been the stalwarts of the Davis Cup team for 10 years, two other players who have never really been put in the pressure situation of playing Davis Cup at the highest level and Jeremy Bates - a captain who never reached the dizzy heights that Tim and Greg have achieved by getting into the top 10 and who has no charisma at all. After the draw (which was no surprise - Tim and Greg were down to play all 5 rubbers), I remember reading comments from Jeremy Bates that he had decided to go with "experience" over "youth" in choosing Tim and Greg, and not putting either of the youngsters Murray or Bogdanovic in the hot seat. This phrase kept coming back to me as the weekend progressed - Bates never really had any options, because few of the youngsters have ever been given a chance to experience "live" rubbers and this will never change until Tim and Greg are forced by age to stand aside. Before the tennis started, BBC commentator John Lloyd made the most succinct comment of the tie when he said "the tie will be decided by the [attitude of the] Captains. Looking back - that was "oh so true"! Of course the rain washout on Friday did nothing to help Team GB's cause, but I really do not think it made that much difference to the final result. Without rain on Friday, Tim might have played a little better in the first rubber (there is really no point of saying "what if"?) but that was never a guarantee because Koubek has always been a solid player and has many "top scalps" to his name over the years. That Tim lost was not altogether a surprise -it was the way he lost that was so surprising: in three straight sets (being bageled in the third set) and without putting up much of a fight. Thank goodness Greg managed to draw on all his resources to beat Melzer who seemed to be pretty nervous but even he could not carry on his good form in the doubles. In nearly every Davis Cup tie that is played the doubles rubber is the decisive match of the tie (the team with the benefit of fresh players has options on the second and third day). Although Jeremy Bates did have options in both Bogdanovic and Murray he deliberately chose not to use either and that may have been the crucial mistake of the weekend. After both playing singles on Saturday, Tim and Greg had to team up in doubles and a routine doubles match for the unbeaten partnership turned into a nightmare as the fresh legs and ideas of Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya meant their downfall and then both knew that they would be expected to play singles on the Sunday as well. It is like playing 3 rounds of Grand Slam tournament in two days. In my opinion, the tennis in the first three rubbers was not exactly memorable (I watched it but didn't exactly enjoy it) but one thing did stick in my mind and that was the attitude of Jeremy Bates during the good and bad moments: He hardly ever showed any emotion, even less tried to motivate his players by getting on his feet or becoming animated on the touchline which was the other extreme to his opposite number - Thomas Muster - who was on his feet nearly every point, of every game, of ever set and behaved like his players were playing the final of a Grand Slam throughout. To be honest, a waxwork from Madame Tussauds would have been more animated than Jeremy Bates was. By the time it got to second day's play and the fourth set of the doubles rubber I was exasperated by the way Bates just sat there. One example came in the latter stages of the fourth set, Tim and Greg had a break point chance - and even though it would have been a very slim opportunity - all Jeremy Bates did was clinch his fist, he was not on his feet (unlike Muster who was jumping around like jack-in-a-box encouraging his players for one more push). Soon after, with Greg's hand being immobilised by a bad blister and bandaging, the last rites were being played as Austria won the doubles in 4 sets to take a 2-1 lead with the reverse singles to come. With the tie hanging in the balance, and GB 1-2 down, Tim did indeed manage to play a superb match against Jurgen Melzer, turning round the rubber when he went 0-6 down in first set, to win in 4 four sets and this left Captain Bates with a big decision - should he go with an injured Greg (who although experienced was certainly less than his best with his racket hand problems), nominate Alex Bogdanovic or perhaps even put Andrew Murray in at the deep end to play the final rubber. In the end he went for experience in Greg but this was to prove a mistake once the first set was over because Koubek became more ambitious whilst Greg's serve and general game crumbled and suffered. Personally I thought Andrew Murray should have been given the chance - he couldn't have done any worse than Greg (losing in straight sets) and it could have been a great learning experience for the future. It is ironic really - at the same time that Tim was battling with Melzer to bring the tie level at 2-2 in Portschauch, a young 18 year old from Spain, Rafael Nadal, was completing a straight sets rout over Arnaud Clement to take Spain through to the final of the Davis Cup for the second successive year (already having played the key role in a five sets doubles victory the previous day) [not to mention winning the deciding 5th rubber in his debut tie at the age of 17 earlier this year] which really showed the gap between Britain and the rest of the world. All I kept asking myself during the final day was "what was the point in Tim and Greg killing themselves with effort when it was obvious that even if they did manage to get into the world group, they had a nil chance of winning a tie"?, when anyone considered the possible match options ahead [Spain - away, France - away, Argentina - away, USA - away, Sweden - away, etc not to mention a possible away tie vs Chile whose current two man team of Massu and Gonzalez would run rings round Tim and Greg on the heavy clay of Chile] and the team would more than likely just find themselves back to square one in 12 months time. Once the last rites of the tie had been completed and the Austrian team were celebrating, I even considered the positive things that the team and the LTA MUST build on during the next 12 months. With another year in the Euro-Africa Zone I group, it is essential that the LTA build a team for the future and this means to put players like Alex Bogdanovic, Andrew Murray and even Wimbledon junior runner up - Miles Kasiri - into the firing line of playing live rubbers to ensure they experience the unique atmosphere and pressure of Davis Cup so that there will be a safe transition once Tim and Greg stand aside. For the good of the future of British Tennis, the LTA and the British Tennis heirachy must stop counting completely on Tim and Greg (to the detriment of everyone else) or we will go into freefall in national team tennis terms once Tim and Greg retire - unless of course the LTA are planning to name Tim and Greg in every Davis Cup team until they swap tennis rackets for zimmer frames! The first job must be to find a Davis Cup Captain who can motivate the young players instead of sitting on his backside....I have a few possibilities in mind, but I would be interested to hear what others think. As you can see, I have very strong views on this. If anyone agrees or disagrees and would like to air their views please email me or put your thoughts on the message board and I will start a separate page within Tim Henman World to get the debate going. Once the 2005 draw is made in the next 24 hours, I hope the LTA will start to build the reserves and take the risk with the youngsters - it might just surprise everyone on how players like Murray and Kasiri could cope with it all. 17/18 year olds can cope with it - remember Giovanni Lapentti? Well he was only just 17 when he played that match against Arvind and he won! 23 September 2004 - Davis Cup Draw News Tim and the rest of Team GB (Greg, Alex Bogdanovic and Andrew Murray) are in Portausch, Austria for their world group play-off Davis Cup tie this weekend. Practice has gone well so far this week, the weather has been great and the only minor complaint is that the court is oh so slow because the Austrians have created the slowest possible court. The draw was made earlier today and the news is that Tim will start the tie against Austrian number two player Stefan Koubek. In the other day one singles rubber, Greg will play Jurgen Melzer. Britain's DC captain, Jeremy Bates has gone for his tried and tested unbeaten Davis Cup partnership of Tim and Greg in the doubles with the expected final day rubbers - Tim vs Melzer and Greg vs Koubek. Although everyone here expected the Austrian team to choose a major city for this tie, it has to be noted that the Austrians are obviously very comfortable on the clay in Portausch since they have won their last three ties they have played there. 12 September 2004 - Tim misses out on the final hurrah Saturday saw a Clash of the Titans when Hewitt, Johansson (Joachim), Federer and Tim faced off in the semi finals in New York. First up came Hewitt and Johansson who played blistering tennis in the warm up to the main event - Tim's semi final against Roger Federer. This was Tim's second Grand Slam semi final in 2004 but possibly his toughest prospect yet as he was playing the undisputed world number 1. The match itself was over far far too quickly but that does not mean it was at all one sided. Roger had to bring out his A+ game and this was the ultimate compliment to Tim because it meant that Roger took the threat of Tim's game seriously. On some days Roger only plays as well as he "has to" to win but in the semi final, Roger played his best top class game throughout and never let up. The first set had 3 consecutive breaks of serve but Federer came out on top, knowing he had to stamp his authority on the match early. The second set was very close and Tim certainly showed just why he has tremendous confidence at the moment as well as why Roger Federer has feared him in the past, however the single break of serve went to the Swiss man and he went two sets up and left Tim with a huge mountain to climb if he was going to stop Roger reaching his fourth Grand Slam final. The challenge was almost over when Federer raced to a 5-1 lead in the third but then faltered as Tim came back, held his serve twice and broke Roger's serve much to the joy of the crowd who wanted the match to continue because it was gripping stuff. This obviously sent warning signals to Roger who then came out and served out the match 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and left Tim on the losing side yet again at Grand Slam semi final stage but he was far from disappointed and seemed most upbeat in his interviews afterwards. Tim now will return to the UK to rest up (but not for long) and prepare for his next big test - Davis Cup away in Austria which begins on 24th September. 9 September 2004 - Tim takes his place in the Last 4 for "Super Saturday" Stormy wind and rain were hardly the ideal conditions to play tennis but those are the conditions that Tim and the other players were greeted with for the quarter finals over the last two days. Over 9 hours of rain on Wednesday delayed the start of Tim's quarter final against Dominik Hrbaty but when the match did start, Tim started the best, racing through the first set 6-1 in just 28 minutes. With Hrbaty finally finding his range, the second set was much more equal but Tim managed to get the only break of serve in the 11th game and served out 7-5. An early break of serve in the third meant Tim was on the brink of another major achievement but with the weather conditions deteriorating, Tim lost his break at a crucial time in the 8th game before Hrbaty took a 5-4 lead as the rain started to fall again and the match was suspended overnight. When the match resumed today (no rain in sight but the blustery wind was possibly worse), Tim managed to hold serve but then lost out in the 12th game which gave the Slovakian his first set of the match. However, Tim was smarting at the" bit" and broke Hrbaty's serve at the start of the fourth and never looked back. Although Dominik kept fighting, Tim was performing to his highest level and won 6-1,7-5, 5-7, 6-2 to put himself into his second Grand Slam semi final of the year. His opponent will be tournament favourite and number one seed, Roger Federer who beat Agassi in 5 sets and the players will take the court sometime during the daytime of Super Saturday for a place in the final. Federer will be a hard player to beat because he is trying to become the first player since Mats Wilander to win 3 Grand Slams in a year since the 1980s but Tim is perhaps the last player Federer wanted to see on the other side of the net as Tim holds a 7-2 advantage over the Swiss Super Champion and Tim certainly knows how to beat him. 6 September 2004 - Tim reaches the Quarter Finals in the US Open for the first time Happy Birthday Tim! Tim celebrated his 30th Birthday in style when he beat Nicolas Kiefer to reach the Quarter Finals at the US Open for the first time. The moment of victory was anything but happy as Kiefer was forced to retire with a tendon injury in his wrist when Tim was 3-0 up in the final set but this was a match that had everything.... Bullet serves, groundstrokes, mishits, lucky lobs, two tie breaks and then an injury timeout at the critical stage that proved decisive. The match was just minutes under 4 hours at the time when Kiefer was forced to pull out but by then it looked like Tim had his stranglehold on procedings when Tim was already 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7, 3-0 up. Now Tim has time to celebrate his Birthday in style whilst waiting for his next match which will be on Wednesday against Hrbaty. The start of the match was anything but classic Henman as Tim went 0-4 down and Kiefer's form of the early US summer looked to be continuing but this is Tim and we all know we should expect a Rollercoaster! Tim fought his way back into the match and the first set went to a tie break which Kiefer won. But this was where Tim stepped up the pace. He went up a gear and managed to get the vital break in the second set to level the match. The third set was all Tim and he won the set 6-1 which just left him one set away from breaking his quarter final duck in New York. The fourth set probably saw the best tennis simultaneously from both players but Kiefer was getting progressively more "ratty" as his good shots were not getting any reward. An unexpected foot fault from the German pushed him over the edge and he ended up getting a second code violation which meant he was docked a point. However, this just added to the tension on the court and amongst the fans and the match entered its second tie break. It was nail biting stuff and another breaker that went the German's way. The crowd were in for a final set climax to this encounter. Tim held his serve at the start of the fifth set before getting an immediate break of serve and held serve once more before Kiefer was trying to get himself on the scoreboard when Kiefer's tendon "popped" and Kiefer was forced to retire and Tim was declared the winner. 5 September 2004 - Tim beats Tabara in another Classic Henman Performance A Henman Classic - then it can only be a Tim five set match. In fact this was Tim's second marathon affair in 5 days and possibly the most tense so far. Tim managed to beat Michel Tabara from the Czech Republic - but only just and it seems his ongonig back injury might be the deciding factor whether Tim can continue much further on the hard courts of New York. Tabara produced many stunning return winners in the early stages and took Tim by surprise, taking the first and third sets to leave the British number one another mountain to climb. Once in the fourth set, Tim seemed to loosen up and started to hit his own brand of winners and got himself back into the match by taking the fourth set.. An immediate break of serve in the final set gave Tim the momentum and although Tabara kept fighting, Tim managed to win 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 with over 3.5 hours on the clock. Another late night for the British fans back in England but one worth celebrating and this put Tim the fourth round at the US Open for only the 3rd time in his career. Tim's next opponent on Monday will be Nicolas Kiefer. 3 September 2004 - Tim triumphant over Golmard One Herculean performance after another, Tim is through to the third round in New York yet again after a sizzling performance in the New York heat against old Nemises Frenchman Jerome Golmard. Tim was almost foot perfect for 2 sets (6-2, 6-4) and it was hard to see how Tim could have ever had a problem against the French leftie. However in the third set, Golmard got second wind, broke Tim and won it 4-6 before racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth before Tim managed to fight his way back into proceedings. The set went to a tie break and Tim was supreme, winning the breaker 7-1 and put him into a third round match against Michel Tabara. The match is set for Saturday. 1 September 2004 - Tim beats the Gentle Giant Tim produced another one of his "Herculean" performances to beat the giant of tennis, 6'10" Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first round of the US Open. Tim all but won the opening two sets of the battle (but the sets were split in tie breaks). Tim semed to be losing steam in the third set - which he lost 4-6, but then managed to turn things around in the fourth to level the match 6-4. In the final set Tim seemed back to his best and, although he admitted to having a back problem afterwards, the British number one proved why he is the number 5 seed in New York by winning 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Next up will be Jerome Golmard (from France) who Tim fans will remember is definitely one of "Tim's nemises" players. 30 August 2004 - US Open Draw news Tim has drawn the "big" Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first round of the US Open. At 6'10", Karlovic is definitely the proverbial giant and Tim will certainly have to be at his returning best to get past this "BIG" challenge. Tim will be in action on Tuesday, along with defending champion Andy Roddick. 16 August 2004 - Tim loses to Novak Tim looked not much like his usual self when he played Czech number one Jiri Novak in Athens. The weather conditions were against him and although both players had to find a way to play through the swirling wind at one particular, it was Novak who seemed to flourish, whilst Tim was uncomfortable with his game. After an immediate service break, Tim was not able to follow up the pressure. The match was over in little over one hour, with Novak winning 6-3, 6-3. Tim will no doubt spend a few days in Athens watching some of the other members of the British team in action before travelling home and then onward to New York for the US Open. 12 August 2004 - Olympic Draw News Tim played two events in the United States to start his US hardcourt swing at Toronto and Cincinnati, both Tennis Masters Events. Tim registered 3 victories over Zabaleta, El Aynaoui and Arazi, but lost against Kuerten and Hewitt thus bringing his short stint in North America to a close. Tim now has a week to make his final preparations for the Olympic Tennis event at Athens and acclimitise to the heat and humidity of a Greek summer. Tim, seeded 4, has drawn Jiri Novak from Czech Republic in the first round. 6 August 2004 - Tim is still Lleyton's "Pigeon" Tim had another attempt at trying to beat Lleyton Hewitt and again, Tim struggled and lost to the Australian who is definitely becoming "most annoying" as he seems to make Tim lose his concentration and his game plan go to pot. Tim was never really in it in the first set because Lleyton was seeing the ball like it was a football. Tim was only saved the embarassment of a "bagel" set when he held serve just before Lleyton served out 6-1. The second set was a little closer but Lleyton still had Tim's number and upped the pace to break serve in the 5th game. Although Tim fought hard after this, it was only a matter of time before Tim was zipping his rackets back in his bag and he left the court as Hewitt was being interviewed after his 8th straight victory over Tim 6-1, 6-4. Tim was left to lick his wounds and fly home to London to prepare himself for the awesome responsibility of being Team GB's only representative in the tennis events in the Athens Olympics 2004. 5 August 2004 - Tim wins matches in Cincinnati Tim started his Cincinnati TMS campaign with a quick simple victory over Younes El Aynaoui 6-1, 6-0. It was the Moroccan's first match back after months of being sidelined with a shoulder injury. Once the match was over, Tim had a long chat with Younes at the net and afterwards he said he had become a bit of "a shoulder anorak" since his injury and surgery two years ago. Tim's second match was against another Morrocan Hicham Arazi. Because of storms and rain earlier in the day, this match took place after TV coverage finished so all I can tell you is that this match was played extremely late in the evening and went the distance of 3 sets. Tim had a tough time but came through at the end to set up a match with his nemisis Lleyton Hewitt. 30 July 2004 - Tim loses to Kuerten Tim never really produced his best tennis when he played Guga Kuerten in Toronto. He struggled in both his service games and when he was returning and came off second best in the two set match. If Tim had won, he would have had a busy day having to play two matches in one day to get the schedule up to date but in the event that he lost, Tim was able to relax and turn his attention to the second Tennis Masters Event in Cincinnati. 28 July 2004 - Tim wins first match in Toronto after the rain Tim started his US hardcourt swing.in Toronto with a winning start against Mariano Zabaleta. Having waited 3 long days before he got on court due to rain and scheduling, Tim was a little rusty and went a break down early. He came back strong though and although Zabaleta fought back well and was close to taking the first set, Tim held his nerve to take the first set 6-4 and then raced through the second with hardly the blink of an eye. Final result: Tim won 6-4, 6-1, and next plays Gustavo Kuerten in the second round on Thursday. 14 July 2004 - Olympic Update With Athens 2004 Olympics just over 30 days away, I have received the official listing of players who will be taking part. The 64 players for the Mens Singles event come from 33 countries. Tim will be the only entrant from Great Britain in either the mens or womens events. With a maximum of 4 singles players per country, the full player listing is as follows: Mens Singles (33 countries) - JI Chela, G Coria, G Gaudio, D Nalbandian (Argentina); S Sargsian (Armenia); M Philippoussis (Australia); J Melzer (Austria); M Mirnyi (Belarus); X Malisse, O Rochus (Belgium); A Segodo (Benin); G Kuerten, F Saretta (Brazil); F Gonzalez, N Massu (Chile); Y-H Lu (Chinese Taipei); M Ancic, I Karlovic, I Ljubicic (Croatia); M Baghdatis (Cyprus); T Berdych, J Novak (Czech Republic); N Lapentti (Ecuador); J Nieminen (Finland); G Carraz, A Clement, S Grosjean, F Santoro (France); I Labadze (Georgia); T Haas, N Kiefer, F Mayer, R Schuettler (Germany); T Henman (Great Britain); K Economidis (Greece); F Volandri (Italy); H-T Lee (Korea); H Arazi, Y El Aynaoui (Morocco); R Sluiter, M Verkerk (Netherlands); L Horna (Peru); A Pavel (Romania); I Andreev, N Davydenko, M Safin, M Youzhny (Russia); K Beck, D Hrbaty, K Kucera (Slovak Republic); JC Ferrero, F Lopez, C Moya, T Robredo (Spain); J Bjorkman, T Enqvist, J Johansson, R Soderling (Sweden); R Federer (Switzerland); P Srichaphan (Thailand); T Dent, M Fish, A Roddick, V Spadea (USA). Mens Doubles (25 countries) - Coria/Nalbandian, Etlis/Rodriguez (Argentina); Arthus/Woodbridge (Australia); Merklein/Knowles (Bahamas); Mirnyi/Voltchkov (Belarus); Malisse/Rochus (Belgium); Nestor/Niemeyer (Canada); Gonzalez/Massu (Chile); Ancic/Ljubicic (Croatia); Berdych/Novak, Damm/Suk (Czech Republic); Clement/Grosjean, Llodra/Santoro (France); Kiefer/Schuettler (Germany); Economidis/Mazarakis (Greece); Bhupathi/Paes (India); Erlich/Ram (Israel); Arazi/El Aynaoui (Morocco); Sluiter/Verkerk (Netherlands); Fyrstenberg/Matkowski (Polland); Hanescu/Pavel (Romania); Andreev/Davydenko, Safin/Youzhny (Russia); Beck/Hrbaty (Slovak Republic); Lopez/Robredo, Moya/Nadal (Spain); Bjorkman/Johansson, Enqvist/Soderling (Sweden); Allegro/Federer (Switzerland); Bryan/Bryan, Fish/Roddick (USA) Black/Ullyett (Zimbabwe). Womens Singles (32 countries) - G Dulko, P Suarez (Argentina); A Molik, N Pratt (Australia); J Henin-Hardenne (Belgium); M Maleeva (Bulgaria); J Zheng (China); F Zuluaga (Colombia); J Kostanic, K Sprem (Croatia); I Benesova, D Chladkova, K Koukalova, B Strycova (Czech Republic); K Kanepi (Estonia); N Dechy, A Mauresmo, M Pierce, S Testud (France); A Barna, M Weingartner (Germany); E Daniilidou (Greece); A Kapros, P Mandula (Hungary); A Widjaja (Indonesia); A Smashnova-Pistolesi (Israel); M-E Camerin, S Farina-Elia, T Garbin, F Schiavone (Italy); S Asagoe, A Morigami, S Obata, A Sugiyama (Japan); YJ Cho (Korea); A Kremer, C Schaul (Luxembourg); D Randriantefi (Madagascar); K Brandi (Puerto Rico); E Demientieva, S Kuznetsova, A Myskina, N Petrova (Russia); J Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro); D Hantuchova, L Kurhajcova, M Sucha (Slovak Republic); M Matevzic, T Pisnik, K Srebotnik (Slovenia); C Martinez, A Medina Garrigues, MA Sanchez Lorenzo, M Serna (Spain); M Casanova, P Schnyder (Switzerland); T Tanasugarn (Thailand); T Perebiynis (Ukraine); J Capriati, C Rubin, S Williams, V Williams (USA); M Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela); C Black (Zimbabwe). Womens Doubles (22 countries) - Suarez/Tarabini (Argentina); Molik/Stubbs, Pratt/Stosur (Australia); Li/Sun, Yan/Zheng (China); Castano/Zuluaga (Colombia); Kostanic/Sprem (Croatia); Prusova/Strycova (Czech Republic); Ani/Kanepi (Estonia); Dechy/Testud, Mauresmo/Pierce (France); Daniilidou/Zachariadou (Greece); Mandula/Nagy (Hungary); Prakusya/Widjaja (Indonesia); Farina-Elia/Schiavone, Garbin/Vinci (Italy); Asagoe/Sugiyama, Morigami/Obata (Japan); Kremer/Schaul (Luxembourg); Demientieva/Myskina, Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva (Russia); Hantuchova/Husarova, Kurhajcova,/Sucha (Slovak Republic); Krizan/Srebotnik, Matevzic/Pisnik (Slovenia); Martinez/Ruano Pascual, Medina Garrigues/Sanchez Vicario (Spain); Casanova/Schnyder (Switzerland); Beygelzimer/Perebiynis (Ukraine); Navratilova/Raymond, Williams/Williams (USA); Sequera/Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela). After doing a pretty extensive search of the Internet, I failed to find the full player listings for either the men/womens events in Athens. The only listing came through on my regular ITF bulletin so I thought you all might find it informative to have it here. Bring on the Olympic tennis event – counting down the days! 2 July 2004 - Tim loses to Ancic After all the hype in British sport over the last few weeks, it is all starting to come crashing down. First the England football team lost to Portugal in Euro 2004; then the England World Cup winning rugby team take some beatings down under and then Tim loses at Wimbledon. After producing such a good performance against Philippoussis to get this far, Tim obviously was not at the top of his game when he played Mario Ancic. The Croatian took the match to Tim early on, racing to the net at every opportunity and thus negating Tim's natural serve/volley game so that he struggled throughout the contest. In the end, Tim never really got into the match and lost in straight sets. Tim will now take a break from tennis to recharge his batteries before his heavy calendar in late July/August at tournaments such as Toronto, Cincinnati, the US Open and of course the Athens Olympics. 28 June 2004 - Tim makes his way into the Quarters.... Tim has succeeded with the first aim of his Wimbledon 2004 campaign - he has reached the second week. What a week. His usual tough first match (have you ever noticed that Tim has ALWAYS had horrible matches on No.1 court) followed by a couple of easier (?) ones against Heuberger and Arazi (on People's Sunday) - and not missing playing his part in the historic Olympic torch relay (I braved the rain on Saturday and the historic photos will follow) - and Monday was the first big test - and I mean big! Mark Phillippoussis is huge - tall, chunky, one of the longest names in tennis and has a phenomonal serve. That Tim was able to win the first two sets so authoritatively shows his current confidence and belief in his game after Roland Garros but once Mark had fought his way back into the match in the third and fourth sets, Tim's maturity and belief kept him in it and he just waited to pounce again. [Once I have got over the tiredness of queuing and no sleep, I promise some fuller match reports - ie tomorrow Tuesday!] All this means that Tim's next match (weather permitting) will be on Wednesday against Mario Ancic of Croatia. 17 June 2004 - Tim's Wimbledon Draw A semi final at Roland Garros was followed by a first match exit from Queens but thankfully after a few days at home with Lucy, Rosie and the news of a new baby in December, Tim's world is in for its usual two weeks of heavy upheaval when tennis and Tim hit SW19 and the Wimbledon Championships is set to begin on Monday. Seeded 5, Tim has been drawn against Spaniard Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo in the first round. Tim must be thanking his lucky stars in that he has avoided the side of the draw which contains Tim's main rivals Hewitt and Federer. 5 June 2004 - Tim's French Open Dream ends After a two week fairytale, Tim's French Open dream came to an abrupt halt during his semi final against Guillermo Coria. Although Tim was able to dictate play with his aggressive serve/volley game for much of the match, it was Coria who came out on top after nearly 3 hours on court. After being a break behind at the start, Tim used his aggression to get the decisive break to take the first set 6-3. Tim was also a break up in the second set and led 4-2 before Coria stormed back to take 13 straight games to be leading 3-0 in the fourth set. Tim was then able to start his own run of 5 games to lead 5-3 and had a chance to level the match on serve at 5-4 but failed and Coria took his chance and came out the 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-5 victor and set up the historic first all Argentine final against Davis Cup colleague Gaston Gaudio. Ironically, if Tim had come up against either of the other Argentine players, Nalbandian or Gaudio, I believe he could have made the final. Oh well, Tim's thoughts will now turn to grass and particularly his participation at Queens Club this week and then at Wimbledon which starts on Monday 21st June. 2 June 2004 - Tim reaches a historic Semi Final at Roland Garros The past two weeks have been pretty much a fairy tale story for Tim who has become the first British man for 40 years to reach the semi finals at Roland Garros. After his straight sets demolition of Juan Ignacio Chela in the quarter finals (6-2, 6-4, 6-4), Tim's reaction was to laugh. “If you’d said I was going to be the semi final of a Slam and it wasn’t Wimbledon, I probably wouldn’t have said here.” Having never before got past the third round in Paris, Tim has compiled a list of impressive victims to get him to his semi final date on Friday. As per usual with Henman matches, Tim has taken the fans on two memorable rollercoaster rides and has twice had to come from 2 sets down to reach victory. Against Saulnier, he was impressive at the end, against Llodra it was tension personified but against Burgsmuller, Blanco and Chela he was clinically efficient and looked every inch the "clay court expert" he is becoming. The first set was over before it really began as Tim's serve-volley tactics worked from the start and he raced to the set 6-2. The second set was not much better when the Argentinian went another break down in the third game and Chela looked shell-shocked when he realised he was two sets down 2-6, 4-6. In the third set, Chela did start to find his range and the match became slightly more competitive, but the result was never in doubt. Tim well and truly had total control and steered himself to victory in just 1 hour and 50 minutes 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 and set up a mouthwatering semi final against Guillermo Coria who is definitely the player to beat on the red stuff. The Argentine has only lost one match on clay since the semi final in Roland Garros last year, winning tournaments in Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Umag, Buenos Aires and Monte Carlo on a winning streak which is the most impressive on tour since Thomas Muster had a complete stranglehold on the clay court tournaments back in the mid 1980s.. Tim now has absolutely nothing to lose in his semi final against Coria, the tournament favourite and everything to gain. We eagerly await Friday and the showdown! 30 May 2004 - Houdini Henman wins again There is only one person who comes to mind where Tim is concerned when he takes the fans on a 5 set rollercoasters and that is the old magician - Houdini - and Tim certainly took the fans, sitting at courtside and watching from their TVs alike on another such ride when he played Frenchman Michel Llodra in his first Roland Garros 4th Round on Sunday. Tim got an immediate break of serve but lost it the very next game and was soon 2-5 down before he seemed to start to play. Tim managed to break back and took the set to a tie break but the Frenchman raced to the breaker 7-2. The second set was no better for Tim and when he went a break down in the third, it looked like curtains for Tim's French Open campaign. However as we all know, Tim managed to turn things around and take the set. In the fourth set, Tim had to really buckle down and play his guts out. He started to take control and dictate on points and eventually leveled the match. An immediate break of serve in the final set put Tim into a strong position when he held for 2-0, but then as with all Houdini stunts tension reached an even higher pitch when Llodra raised his game in answer to the support from his home fans. A couple of lucky "trick" shot rallies and Tim was broken back to 3-3. With Llodra serving first it was a matter of seeing who would crack first. As the set score mounted, Tim was the first player to have a crisis on serve. At 4-5 down, the nerves were obviously jangling as Tim had trouble getting his serves over the net. He managed to compile 3 double faults in 6 points (fortunately interspersed with some solid winning groundstrokes) but then faced a match point. Again the first serve misfired but he kept his cool to send a passing shot past Llodra and everyone could breath again. It took him a while but eventually Tim held serve and it was a further 2 service games before the cracks showed in Llodra's inexperience. At 7-7, Llodra's nerve vanished and Tim got the break we had all been praying for and it was not long before Tim served out the match 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 9-7 to set up a quarter final against Juan Ignacio Chela and his first supposed "clay court expert" of the tournament. 28 May 2004 - [Tim vs Blanco match report to follow] 26 May 2004 - Tim progresses against Burgsmuller Tim produced an authoritative performance against Lars Burgsmuller in Paris to triumph in straight sets and set up a third round clash against Galo Blanco. In the first set, Tim certainly proved he is more than capable of playing "claycourt" tennis by bageling the German 6-0 and by the time Burgsmuller recovered in the second set to take his first set, Tim's confidence knew no bounds. The second and third sets also went to the Brit, each by the score 6-3 and Tim had let his racket to the talking in the most conclusive way to say he was there to really play and not just there to make up the numbers in the French Open. After his 5 set battle of the first round, Tim showed none of the ill effects he had shown on Monday and he can now look forward to his third round clash against Blanco which will be scheduled for Friday. Tim's chances of further progression were increased later in the day when Andy Roddick was bounced from the tournament (joining Agassi on the plane home) by Frenchman Mahut. 24 May 2004 - Tim wins first round encounter Tim produced probably his grittiest performance for a long time when he was forced to come back from a 2 set deficit in the French Open to overcome home favourite, Frenchman Cyril Saulnier in five tense sets, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3. The match lasted 3 hours 48 minutes and historically is Tim's first comeback from 2 sets down on Tour (the only other time came in Davis Cup). At the start of the match Tim was obviously struggling to find his form and took time to settle. With Tim struggling to find the court with his groundstrokes, Saulnier played some really confident tennis to take the first two sets. It was only towards the end of the second set and in the third set that Tim started to find his range and his comeback started. With both players on their best form, the set went to a tie break and Tim suddenly took his chances and won the breaker 7-2. At this point, Tim started to grasp control of the match and began to turn things around and soon Tim was level with the final set showdown to go. In the final set, Tim produced the sort of form we have come to expect of him, especially when Saulnier's confident game started to disintegrate. With the score at 3-5, Saulnier served to save the match and his resolve fell apart when he double faulted at matchpoint down. Tim had won - but only just - and afterwards he admitted that he was still not feeling 100% after having a virus/bug during the TMS Hamburg tournament. Ironically, Tim's path to further progress has been made a little easier because just as Tim was celebrating victory, Andre Agassi was saluting in defeat (to another Frenchman) and later in the day Mark Philippoussis also lost (Mark had been a prospective 3rd round opponent and Andre was the big seed in Tim's quarter). Tim's match will be against Lars Burgsmuller and will take place on Wednesday. 19 May 2004 - Davis Cup Venue announced Team GB now know the venue and surface for their tie against Austria in September. The tie will take place at Poertschach in southern Austria on clay (probably very slow clay). For anyone who would like to go to this tie, you will need to contact the LTA's travel company (Travelcare) via www.lta.org.uk. 12 May 2004 - Tim loses out to Pavel Tim looked little of his usual self earlier today when he played Andrei Pavel in Hamburg. Pavel broke Tim's serve in the first game of each set played and followed this up with strength and power on his own service games to come out a 6-2, 6-2 victor. I understand Tim has not been feeling too well the last few days and this probably contributed to his lacklustre performance. Tim will now have a few days break from the tour before moving onto Paris to prepare for the French Open which starts on 24 May. 11 May 2004 - Tim comes through against Seppi After Ferrero withdrew from the tournament and Tim was spared the task of playing Hewitt in the first round, the British number one had to draw on all his experience to beat the Italian qualifier, Andreas Seppi, in 3 tough sets in Hamburg. The Italian started strongly and raced to a 5-2 lead before nerves kicked in and he was unable to close out the set and allowed Tim to come back. In the second set, Seppi was more focussed and started to hit out again and Tim obviously lost his own focus to let Seppi to level the match. In the final set, it was Tim had to use all his experience, grit and determination to get himself in a winning position to come out the 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 victor. Next up is Andrei Pavel. 9 May 2004 - Hamburg Draw News Tim has one of the toughest first round draws this year because he has drawn Lleyton Hewitt in the TMS Hamburg. Tim has yet to find the right recipe for victory over Hewitt so this task is more like Mission Impossible. However, Tim must be feeling relatively confident after playing well in Rome and shall probably relish the challenge of playing Hewitt in a first round for a change. This match will be scheduled for Tuesday. 7 May 2004 - Tim loses in Rome Although he was beaten by Zabaleta in 3 sets, Tim produced one of his best quality sets to win the first set of their match. Tim raced to a 3-0 lead before Mariano was able to get himself on the scoreboard. Tim managed to hold his serve together for the remainder of the set to win it 6-3, before Mariano was able to get into his range and showed his clay court experience to level the match and then forged further ahead in the final set to gain victory over Tim and reach the quarter finals. 5 May 2004 - Tim beats Stepanek Tim produced a really authoritative performance to beat Czech player, Radek Stepanek in Rome yesterday. He never let his opponent get comfortable in a match and won convincingly 6-1, 6-1. On a day when the inclement weather intervened, Tim was lucky to get his match completed and will now play Mariano Zabaleta in the third round after Zabaleta beat the defending champion, Felix Mantilla. 4 May 2004 - Rome Update Tim was back to his best when he performed well to beat German qualifier, Florian Mayer, in the first round in Rome. Although Mayer started well, taking an early break of serve, Tim forced the score back to 3-3 and eventually broke the German's serve again in the 12th game to take the set 7-5. Tim motored on in the second set and soon won the match 7-5, 6-1 to set up a second round match against Radek Stepanek which will scheduled for Wednesday. 26 April 2004 - Monte Carlo Round Up Tim's first outing on clay was at the Monte Carlo TMS where he reached the quarter finals, beating Spadea, Sanchez and Massu before losing to Rainer Schuettler (who went on to reach the final). He won the doubles with Nemad Zjimonic. Tim has a week off before TMS Roma which begins on 3 May. Tim was runner-up at Indian Wells after beating Andy Roddick (again like in Paris) but came up against Roger Federer in the final who was just too good on the day. 16 April 2004 - Davis Cup Round Up Tim, Greg and the rest of Team GB won their April match against Luxembourg 4-1. After Arvind Parmar lost the opening rubber, Tim did what he does best and saved the day by playing his number one role by winning three matches on the trot, the doubles with Greg (who marked his return to competitive action with a victory with Tim) before Greg won the final dead rubber. Great Britain have been drawn to play Austria in the playoffs in September. This tie is AWAY. 27 March 2004 - Tim loses to Melzer in Miami After being Runner-Up in Indian Wells, Tim's confidence bubble burst in Miami. For some reason, Tim has never really played his best tennis in Miami - it must have something to do with the climate or humidty and 2004 was no different from the pattern of previous years. With a draw of 96, the top 32 players have a bye in the first round (Tim included) and Tim's opening match was against Austrian left hander Jurgen Melzer. The conditions on court were difficult, although it was hot that day due to a sharp breeze. The first set was a stalemate (service wise) and had to be settled by a breaker as neither of the players could break serve and unfortunately Tim came off second place as Melzer as the Austrian's was so difficult to read. In the second set, Tim settled more to the task in hand and acutally managed to break Melzer's serve - in fact he did it twice - to take the set 6-2. With things balanced on a knife edge, the final set became a tete-a-tete affair as both players battled to hold onto their serve. Just as it looked as if a tie break was the only solution, Tim suddenly bagged a break from nowhere to leave 6-5 with just his serve to come. After the usual player rest break, Tim's serve let him down just when he needed it to be strong and he was broken and led to a final set tie break. Tim did in fact have an early advantage in the breaker but this was shortlived as Melzer's serve really started to wound as the Austrian came back yet again. As with other players, Tim does seem to have trouble with some left-handed players and slipped to defeat 6-7, 6-2, 6-7. 21 March 2004 – Tim loses to Federer With an outstanding winning record against the world number 1 going into the final, Tim knew he had a real chance for victory in his second consecutive TMS tournament. With [7] wins against Federer to 1 – (the only defeat coming when Tim had to retire injured), as well as 2 victories since November 2003, Tim was the only player to inflict defeat on Federer in that 5 month period. However the "Federer" now was a completely different prospect as the Suisse player had grown in stature and confidence. The final was a complete anticlimax to the all the pre-match hype as Tim seemed to be extremely inhibited throughout. Federer did not let Tim dictate the pace of play and enforced pressure from the very start. The Suisse player had obviously been studying the way that Tim played and tried his best to put Tim off his stride. This ploy worked because Tim never really settled and lost the encounter 3-6, 3-6 and with it his "hold" over Federer. 20 March 2004 – Tim into his second Indian Wells Final After his long battle against Roddick, Tim had a relatively easy semi final against Irakli Labadze who was ranked over 120 places below him at the start of the tournament. The final was over in just 17 games and was completely one way with Tim winning 6-3, 6-2 to set up a final against Roger Federer who beat Andre Agassi in the other semi final. In fact, the commentators spent more time talking about the fascinating match up potentiality between Tim and Roger rather than talking about the match itself. 19 March 2004 – Tim beats Roddick After their tightly fought battle in Paris in November 2003, this quarter final match up between Tim and Andy Roddick was always going to be one to savour. Having gone through the draw pretty easily, Tim’s confidence was at a high and above all he knew that he was the only person to beat Roddick last summer on the American hardcourt swing. Top billing does not always mean a good match because pressure can do strange things to players. However, this was one match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. I watched this match from the luxury of my hotel room in Miami – having just arrived across the Atlantic for the Miami tournament, so I had the additional "privilege" of biased American commentating. To cut a long story short, the first two sets went to tie breaks, the first being won by Andy and the second won by Tim but not before he had had to fight extremely hard to hold serve towards the end of that set. With the American crowd totally on the side of their homegrown favourite, Tim played with his usual maturity to take the second breaker 7-1 which stunned the crowd and was always the more dominant player in the final set. Andy did not give up but he just had no answer to Tim’s aggressive play. In his career, Tim has at times been to blame by causing of his own downfall when not maintaining pressure on players but this day he did everything right and it was Roddick who look vulnerable on serve as the final set entered its climax stages. It was Tim who got the crucial break of serve and clinched victory 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. 18 March 2004 - Tim beats Arthurs / Roddick next up Tim is through to his second consecutive TMS quarter final when he conclusively beat Wayne Arthurs 6-1, 6-3 in Indian Wells. Arthurs is best known for his serve, Tim managed to break the Australian's serve three times in the first set. Although Tim slipped up at the start of the second set, he came back quickly and got the decisive break to win in straight sets and put him on collision course with Andy Roddick in the quarter finals. 16 March 2004 - Tim beats Corretja Tim produced a pretty solid performance to beat Spaniard Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-4 in the second round in Indian Wells. Although Tim took an early lead, Alex came back but Tim managed to get the decisive break in each set. Tim will now play Wayne Arthurs for a place in the quarter finals. 14 March 2004 - Tim beats Larose Tim beat Canadian qualifier Simon Larose in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the Pacific Life Open late yesterday. Tim certainly lived up to his seeding potential by beating the qualifier with very little trouble. Tim must fancy his chances this week after a good week for British Tennis with Greg's innocent verdict and also because Tim reached the final in Indian Wells two years ago. Tim's next opponent will be Alex Corretja who beat his countryman Tommy Robredo. This third round match will be scheduled for Monday. 13 March 2004 - Tim's first match in Indian Wells Tim plays Canadian qualifier Simon Larose in the second round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells later today. Tim was lucky to have an extra day to practice after a bye in the first round. Tim must fancy his chances this week after a good week for British Tennis with Greg's innocent verdict and also because Tim reached the final in Indian Wells two years ago. 10 March 2004 - Indian Wells Draw news It has been rather a good week for British Tennis. Greg got the innocent verdict he wanted from his drugs' tribunal and Tim got a very reasonable draw in Indian Wells. Tim gets a bye in the first round and will have to play either a qualifier or Felix Mantilla in round two. The draw has been kind and kept Tim away from many of the current dangerous floaters in the mens game and will not enter the fray until at least Friday. 24 February 2004 - Tim lost in Dubai Tim had a week back home in London after losing to Hewitt in Rotterdam and returned to action in Dubai where he played Tomas Zib from the Czech Republic. Zib was one of Tim's victim's at Wimbledon last year but unfortunately the Czech turned the tables and Tim lost the match 4-6 6-3 6-7. 22 February 2004 - Tim fails to beat Lleyton - yet again Tim managed to create something of a record last week when he put an end to Roger Federer's longest winning run (incidently, Tim was the last player to beat Roger in 2003 during the Paris Open). During the tournament in Rotterdam, Tim beat Robredo, Cakl and World Number One Roger Federer in the quarter finals before he was defeated by Lleyton Hewitt (yet again - Tim has failed to beat Lleyton in 7 straight matches). Rotterdam was Tim's second semi final appearance of the year, but with a repeat of the first, Tim lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. Against Lleyton, Tim was on the run right from the start. Lleyton took an early break and he never looked back. After taking the first set 6-3, Lleyton worked hard in the second to take the advantage and once he had the break, it was only a matter of time before Tim was facing defeat. Another one to chalk up to experience and to discuss with Paul Annacone during the next week or so. 19 February 2004 - Tim reaches quarter final in Rotterdam again Tim is into the quarter finals in Rotterdam after straight sets victories against Robredo and Cakl (from Czech Republic). However, next up will be number one seed and current Wimbledon and Australian Open Champion, Roger Federer. This match will be played on Friday. 16 February 2004 - Rotterdam Draw News Tim has been drawn against Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the first round in Rotterdam. After Greg withdrew for personal reasons, Tim is the only British representative in the draw. 9 February 2004 - Davis Cup News Update Tim and other members of Team GB now know which team they have to face in the April stage of the Davis Cup. They will now face Luxembourg AWAY after Team Lux beat the boys from Team Finland 4-1 over the last 3 days. Team GB would normally be heavy favourites to win this tie (home or away) - however all may depend on the outcome of Greg's drug case which is due to take place over the few days. 25 January 2004 - Henman express derailed Tim's Australian season came to an abrupt standstill when he was beaten by Argentine Guillermo Canas in 5 gruelling sets in the third round, 7-6, 7-5, 6-7, 5-7, 7-9. Tim actually played really well to take the first two sets and looked on course for victory. However, Tim lost his focus, concentration and intensity in the third and fourth sets which obviously gave Canas motivation to fight back. The intensity in the fifth and final set was high from both players and the match came down to just a handful of points but when the pressure was at its highest, Tim cracked. Added to that, Canas played a blinder and hardly commiting any unforced errors towards the end of the near 5 hour encounter. I take my hat off to him - coming back from many months off, Guillermo proved that you can never count him out. Canas now has the distinction of beating Tim at three of the four Grand Slams. Tim's next tournament will be in Rotterdam in February. 22 January 2004 - Tim breezes through Stepanek Tim produced another A1 performance to beat Radek Stepanek. Although the Czech has been known to cause Tim problems in the past and in fact slipped up in the second set, Tim had no trouble once he got control back. The match was over in just over 2 hours with Tim winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. His next opponent will be Argentinian player Guillermo Canas who beat Agustin Calleri in 5 sets. Tim is in Melbourne attempting to reach the fourth round at his first grand slam outside Wimbledon. 20 January 2004 - Tim easily beats Lisnard Tim performed really well in his first round match against Frenchman, Lisnard. The match was decided when Tim was able to take control of the net and Tim raced to a straight sets victory 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in under 2 hours on court (including the practice knock up!). His next opponent is Radek Stepanek from the Czech Republic and the match will be played on Thursday. Tim is in Melbourne attempting to reach the fourth round at his first grand slam outside Wimbledon. 17 January 2004 - Tim's Australian Open Draw News Tim was seeded 11 and has drawn Jean Rene Lisnard from France as his first round opponent. Seeing that he did not play the Australian grand slam last year, Tim has no points to defend and so everything to gain by a good performance. The order of play for Day 1 does not have Tim listed so he will no doubt start on Tuesday. 10 January 2004 - Tim fails to reach the Final Tim tried his best but unfortuantely his best was not good enough when it came to the semi finals in Doha. In a tight first set, Tim managed to break the Croatian's serve in the 11th game before surrendering his own serve straight back and eventually losing the set on a tie break. After an intervention for rain, Tim managed to turn the tables in the second set to level the match. After another equal battle in the third set, the match had to be settled by a final shoot out tie break. This time, Tim took the lead and led 5-2 before Ljubicic countered himself with 5 straight points to come out victorious 6-7, 6-3, 6-7. Tim has a week to reflect on his progress before the Australian Open starts on 19th January. 8 January 2004 - Tim breezes through to the Semi Finals Tim further showed he may be back to his best tennis when he produced a fine performance to beat Armenian Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-1 and progressed to a semi final against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. Tim is now on a 9 match winning streak - long may this continue. Doha has been a good tournament for Tim in the past, he twice reached the final - in 1997 and 1999. 6 January 2004 - Tim wins again Tim reinforced his chances of back to back tournament success in Doha this week when he easily beat Juan Ignaceo Chela from Argentina in second round singles. Tim swept to victory 6-3, 6-4 and with other big seeds falling by the wayside (El Aynaoui, Roddick and Philippoussis), he must be confident that he can repeat his Paris triumph in the Middle East. Doha has been a good tournament for Tim in the past, he twice reached the final - in 1997 and 1999. 5 January 2004 - Tim starts with easy win Tim started his 2004 with a resounding win over David Sanchez 6-4, 6-0 in Doha. Seeded 7, Tim took an early break and although Sanchez made a comeback, Tim was always in control. After winning the first set 6-4, Tim raced through to victory without losing another game. 4 January 2004 - Doha Draw News Tim starts his 2004 ATP tennis campaign in Doha where he is set to play David Sanchez in the first round of the Qatar Mobil Open, before he moves onto Melbourne to prepare for the Australian Open which starts on 19th January. 2 January 2004 - Tim awarded OBE Honour Tim was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Years Honours List for his contribution to British Tennis and British Sport in general. Although the news of the award was leaked before Christmas, I did not want to put the news on the website before it became official. Tim is said to be delighted with the news and will feel very proud when he gets the chance to appear before the Queen at Buckingham Palace to collect the award. |
