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NEWS ARCHIVES 2000

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26 November 2000 - TIM WINS FIRST TITLE ON BRITISH SOIL

It took less than 90 minutes for Tim to win his first ATP title on British soil this afternoon.  He produced almost perfect tennis in the first set, breaking Hrbaty's serve twice before clinching it 6-2.  The second set was more of the same.  Tim raced to an early 3-1 lead before Hrbaty injured his back but by then the result was a foregone conclusion - Tim was just playing too well.  The match was finally over 6-2, 6-2 and Tim was able to celebrate.  It is just the sort of reward Tim needs to end his year.  Now he can look forward to 2001 with great anticipation.

For anyone who does not already know, the highlights of the final will be shown on BBC2 at 1645 hrs (GMT) plus late tonight/early tomorrow also on BBC2. 

Although not listed as an automatic entry for Lisbon, Tim will no doubt be ready to play if anyone gets injured.  He is second in line for entry and with Lleyton Hewitt seemingly laid low with a mystery illness and Magnus Norman having problems in Stockholm, there is every possibility Tim will appear on court before the end of this week.   More news on any developments as they happen.

25 November - Tim reaches another final

After a day off on Friday, Tim was fresh and ready for action in his semi final against Lee, (the Korean who pushed Sampras hard at the US Open).  When Chris Woodruff was forced to pull out of their quarter final, Tim might have thought that fate is with him this week because when he faced Lee today, he seemed to be able to do nothing wrong.   Although never having played Lee before, Tim was in control throughout, winning 6-2, 6-1 and faces the number two seed, Dominik Hrbaty in the final tomorrow.

24 November - Tim races into Quarter Finals

At the start of the event there were 8 - 8 Brits that is.  Now there is just one.   Tim lived up to his No.1 seeding position to beat Dutchman Sluiter in straight sets but he had to fight for it.  Tim had the early advantage but Sluiter came back.   The set was settled in the tie break and when Tim put himself ahead in the second set, he never looked back, winning 7-6, 6-1.  He now plays Chris Woodruff in the quarter finals and has a chance to gain revenge for that loss in Melbourne back in January this year. 

22 November - Tim beat Tabara in under 1 hour

Tim took just over 50 minutes to demolish Michal Tabara 6-0, 6-2 and will play Raemon Sluiter in the second round tomorrow.  Although fairly easy, Tim was pleased with the win and hopes to finish the year on a high in front of the home fans.  As Tim said afterwards "I can't have too many complaints.  I was aware my record in the British events has not been too good this year."

21 November - Tim finishes year in Brighton

After an up and down year, Tim finishes his ATP season in Brighton this week.   Seeded 1 at the Samsung Open, Tim plays Czech player M Tabara later today.   After a swift exit in Paris last week, Tim will be hoping for a prolonged run in front of the British fans this week.  His possible semi final opponent is Greg Rusedski who does not start his campaign until tomorrow.  However, this does not mean that there has not been British success so far. 

British players made up a quarter of the singles draw.  In addition to Tim and Greg, top Brits include Barry Cowan, Martin Lee, Jamie Delgado, Luke Milligan, Lee Childs and Oliver Freelove.  So far Barry Cowan and Lee Childs are through to round two.   Cowan beat fellow Brit Martin Lee whilst Lee Childs produced a fantastic performance against Sargis Sargsian in what was his first ATP debut.  The new National Champion, Childs, has had a great year, winning the boys doubles competition at the US Open, becoming the European U18 champion in singles and doubles as well as winning the National Championships in Telford within the last 3 weeks.

15 November - Costa enacts revenge on Tim

Tim saw his chances of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup effectively evaporate when he was defeated by Albert Costa in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.  On the radio, the reporters said that Tim looked like he was there in body but not in mind and quite frankly I agreed with them when I saw the match later on video.  The fatal flaw turned out to be Tim's serve which was broken on 3 occasions during the two sets and Tim now really needs to do a lot of work in the off-season to get his service much more consistent so that he does not feel so pressured when his best weapon starts to missfire.  All together, Costa looked the more efficient player on court and although he did face a fair number of break points, he saved all but one of them and progressed to the third round to face likely opponent Thomas Enqvist.

13 November - Tim optimistic of success in Paris

After a first round bye, Tim plays Albert Costa in Paris on Tuesday in a repeat of their match from Stuttgart just a fortnight ago.  Although it is a long shot, Tim still has an outside chance of being one of the final 8 players in Lisbon.  However, to do this he has to reach at least the semi finals this week (but preferably the final) and winning or reaching the final again next week.  It won't be easy because Guga Kuerten lies in wait further down the draw but Tim feels optimistic he can keep his hopes alive for the moment. 

Tim spent the weekend practicing at the Paris Bercy watched by coach David Felgate and David's daughter Alice.  Although he is clearly focussed on the week ahead, Tim still found the time to play ball with Alice, showing his prowess at heading tennis balls and helping teach Alice ball skills!

2 November - Tim defeated by Aussie tornado Hewitt

With the wind and rain battering all corners of Britain, Tim had his own "weather" trouble earlier today when he took on the Aussie tornado Lleyton Hewitt in the third round in the Tennis Masters Series in Stuttgart. Although indoors, Tim was battered to all corners of the court as he let his control dwindle. Tim started strong and was all over Hewitt as he won the first set 6-3, but let things slip in the second as Lleyton was everywhere and levelled things (also by the score of 6-3). In the final set, Tim had two break points but missed a sitter at the net and then things seemed to get away from him. In the end, it was Lleyton who moved on to the quarter finals 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and his chances of making the final 8 in Lisbon are looking better with the passing of the days.

So far, Kuerten, Safin, Sampras, Agassi and Magnus Norman have all qualified for the Masters Cup. At present, Kafelnikov, Hewitt, Corretja and Enqvist are in the key places and Tim will have to produce something special in Paris or do a "Tonya Harding" in the remaining weeks of the season if he is going to make Lisbon!

2 November - Tim against Hewitt later this afternoon

Both the Brits are through to the third round matches which will take place in Stuttgart later today.  Tim will play Lleyton Hewitt whilst Greg takes on the number 1 seed, Marat Safin.  Yesterday Tim played his first match in the German Mercedes car capital against Albert Costa and won convincingly 6-2, 6-3.  If Tim is to keep his chances alive of qualifying for the Masters Cup later this month, he must beat the Aussie and deny him some much needed points.  And if both T and G win today, they will meet in the quarter finals tomorrow.

1 November - Tim plays Costa today

Tim will be first on court later today in the second round against Spaniard Albert Costa. A good performance in Stuttgart is obligatory if Tim is to keep his chances of getting to Lisbon later this month.

31 October - Stuttgart Draw News

Tim has been seeded 9 in the Tennis Masters event in Germany this week.  Along with the other 15 seeds, he has a bye through to the second round where he will play either Jiri Novak or Albert Costa.  If Tim is to stand any chance of getting to Lisbon he will have to get himself up into 7th position in the Champions Race at least because Agassi, the Australian Open winner, will probably occupy the 8th and last spot and as a Grand Slam winner, he gets an automatic entry (even if he finishes outside the Top 10).

29 October - Tim fails in another Final bid

Tim could not get to grips with Thomas Enqvist's serve or his own for that matter during their semi final match in Basel yesterday.  He was a set and a break down before he managed to hold his own serve but by that time Enqvist was well on the way to another final - which he won and as a result of this victory, Tim's hopes of qualifying for the season ending Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon have all but been extinguished. He will have to do extremely well at Stuttgart this next week to have any chance (and his rivals will have to do very badly!) 

27 October - Tim wins through to another Semi Final

Tim had to fight hard but he is through to his third successive semi final.  After success in Vienna, his winning run continued when he beat Hicham Arazi in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 and will take on second seed Thomas Enqvist in the semi finals tomorrow.   Enqvist may have beaten Tim the last time they played (in Cincinnati - August 2000), but that was then and this is now - Tim is brimming with confidence and will hope to reach his third successive final in Basel and perhaps win back his title that was pinched by Karol Kucera last year. 

In the other half of the draw, Roger Federer awaits the winner of the Rusedski/Hewitt quarter final and perhaps we can hope for the first all British final.  (I am off to see some friends for the next day or so.....  I will update the site on my return.)

26 October - British success doubling up

Tim's run of form continued today when he beat Arnaud Clement easily to progress to the quarter finals in Basel.  Although Clement has been one of the players on form since the summer, he was really no real competition for Tim who won through in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 and now looks forward to another relatively easy match against Hicham Arazi. Although Arazi has given Tim trouble in the past, their matches indoors have really only been one way traffic.  Looking forward still further, Tim would have to battle against either Dominik Hrbaty or Thomas Enqvist in the semi finals whilst in the top half the quarter finals include Greg, Lleyton, Roger Federer and a new name for you Nicolas Thormann from France.  Bring on the weekend !!!

25 October - Tim on the way in Basel

Tim beat Spanish qualifier Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4 earlier today and now progresses through to a second round match against one of the Frenchman on form - Arnaud Clement.   Victory there will put him into his third straight quarter final.

24 October - Tim returns to Basel

Tim has been seeded 4 in his latest attempt at winning another title.  After his long awaited success in Vienna, Tim feels he has all the weapons needed to win again and hopes he can do what he did in 1998 and win back to back ATP singles titles.  [In 1998 he won Tashken and then Basel within 4 weeks].  He has been drawn against Tommy Robredo, a wild card from Spain in the first round and will play either Arnaud Clement or Alex Calatrava in the next round.  The match will be scheduled for Wednesday.

18 October - Tim's uses Golf Day to make some money for Charity

After winning in Vienna, Tim returned to England that very night to be ready to take part in his charity celebrity golf day on Monday.  And things went really well - in fact sensationally well - because the charity day raised the "phenomenal amount" of £182,295.  "I'm absolutely delighted," said Henman afterwards.  "I honestly didn't expect any like this. We surpassed our wildest expectations. There are a lot of children who need our support and anything we can do to help them is a privilege".  The beneficiaries this year are Sargent Cancer Care for Children and SPARKS (Sport Aiding medical Research for KidS).

Among those taking part in celebrity tournament were Chris Evans and three of the Olympic Gold Coxless Four rowing team - including 5 time Olympic gold medallist Steve Redgrave (right)- Matthew Pinsent and Tim Foster. Among the others who joined in were Jeremy Guscott, Kenny Logan, Michael Lynagh John Regis and Annabel Croft.

Tim did extremely well on the golf course, recording the longest celebrity drive on the back nine holes, with a 250 yard drive at the 14th. Not to be outdone, Redgrave won the celebrity award for the nearest shot to the pin on the back nine, 12 feet from the 15th hole.

Not due to be back in action on a tennis court until next week in Basel, Switzerland (or Basle depending on whether you are in the French part or German part), Tim will have the rest of week to recover from his antics preparing for the battles ahead in the lead up to the Masters Cup in Lisbon.

15 October - Tim beats his chest in triumph breaking two year title drought

It has taken 24 months coming and 7 losing finals but Tim has finally won his fifth career ATP title - the CA Trophy in Vienna.  Playing some of his best tennis of the year, Tim looked in control throughout in a very clinical performance to take the spoils in the Austrian capital earlier today.  When the final point was over and he had won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4,  Tim beat his chest "Tarzan" style to show just what victory meant to him. 

A single break in each set in the best of 5 set final was enough to see Tim home and the Olympic silver medalist Tommy Haas never looked to threaten.  In fact, Tim did not have to face any break points until he was actually serving for the match and then it was probably just tension in his serving arm and Haas so relaxed he was hitting out with abandon that caused this slip. 

Overall, it was one of Tim's best serving performances of 2000 (and I saw him beat Sampras Kuerten and Kafelnikov remember in August).  In statistic terms, Tim notched up a 67% success rate on serve which is much better than his norm, served 10 aces and only one double fault.  He was dynamic at the net as well as the baseline whilst Haas was accident prone if he stayed back and more often than not passed if he came forward.   Tim miss hit just one lob the entire match and heads back to another of his favourite haunts - Basel - in a week's time feeling ultra confident and looking forward to the final events of the season and hopefully one of the coveted 8 places in Lisbon at the ATP Masters Cup.

Commenting afterwards Tim said "It's amazing what a bit of adrenaline makes you do and I certainly have never beaten my chest like that before.   I thought I completely outplayed Haas and did my job very solidly today.    I would be lying if I said I didn't also feel a great sense of relief at winning a final after losing so many in succession.  It seems such a very long time ago that I beat Andre Agassi to win the title in Basle and seven runner-up trophies have done nothing but frustrate me."

14 October - Tim holds on to reach another final

Tim spent most of his semi final encounter against Roger Federer fighting tooth and nail to stay with the young Swiss youngster in a battle of wit as well as tennis slogging.   Having lost the opening set 2-6, Tim looked like he might go down in straight sets when Federer just kept fighting and fighting.  However, Tim somehow managed to do his usual Houdini act to "produce the magician's rabbit from a hat" to take the second set on a tie break and just managed to hold on to reach his 4th final of the year, winning 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.  What is most fascinating is that Federer actually won 13 more points than Tim, which is quite incredible.  In the final Tim will play Tommy Haas who has dispensed with players like Corretja, Clement, Golmard and Pioline during this week and will be equially determined to break his title drought of 2000.

13 October - Tim into another Semi but he has to fight for it

Today's quarter final against Fernando Vicente was a game of two halves.  The first half was Tim operating well and controlling things - he took the first set and was 3-0 up in the second.  HALF TIME.  The second half:  Vicente came back, broke back and really battled.  From being so far ahead, Tim had to really fight to take the match to a second set tie break and although he led again, Vicente nearly came back - it was just his serve which let him down, when he served a double fault on match point.  A pretty ghastly way to end such a battle but I suspect that Tim will be very relieved. 

In the semi finals Tim will face Roger Federer who earlier beat Richard Krajicek (the indoor supremo!).  If history is anything to go by, Tim should reach the final because Greg faced Federer last year in the semi finals, beat him and then won the final.   (And of course - Tim is very good at following in Greg's footsteps !!!!!   Remember Basel 1997 (Greg) and 1998 (Tim's last tournament victory)!?!

12 October - Santoro sent packing and Tim's run continues

A single break of serve gave Tim the first set 6-3 against Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.   Another two breaks of serve at the start of the second set looked as though the match was over but Tim slipped up for a second was broken himself before he broke again to win 6-3, 6-2 and now plays Fernando Vicente in the quarter finals after the Spaniard cut off the chances of an all British quarter final by beating Greg in three sets.

11 October - Tim romps home in double quick time

Tim played his Viennese waltz to perfection when he beat Swiss giant Marc Rosset in the Austrian capital earlier this evening.  A single break of serve settled the first set - although Tim let 6 set points slip on his serve before he won the set 6-3.  In the second set, after Rosset held his opening service game, Tim turned the screw and won 6 games in a row to take his place in the second round 6-3, 6-1 where he will play Fabrice Santoro.  Another win from both Tim and Greg will see them meeting in the quarter finals so it will be interesting to see what happens for the remainder of this week.

10 October - Tim vs Rosset scheduled for 11th at 7 pm

Tim will be hoping to join British team mate Greg Rusedski in the second round when he starts this week's campaign against Marc Rosset in Vienna tomorrow.  Seeded 6th, Tim will be hoping to stop the fall of the seeds in an event which has already seen Safin, Norman and Kafelnikov beaten in the opening round matches.  The match is scheduled to be played at 7 pm Wednesday 11th - with live TV coverage on British Eurosport. 

On another note, fellow Brit Greg did really well to beat Yevgeny earlier tonight in three sets and probably played his best match this year (if not since this time last year when he won the tournament beating Nicolas Kiefer in the final).  The only other Brit in action on the ATP Tour this week is Barry Cowan who was beaten in both singles (by Sergi Bruguera) and doubles in Tokyo.  

8 October - Tim's draw news in Vienna

Tim has been seeded 6 in Vienna this week and will play Marc Rosset in the first round which is a relatively tough draw.  In other first round matches, Tommy Haas plays Alex Corretja whilst Greg has the unlucky task of playing the Olympic silver medalist, Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round.

7 October - Defeated by Kiefer

Tim's hunt for his first title in two years goes on after he was defeated by Nicolas Kiefer earlier today 6-4, 6-2.  In quite a one sided match, Tim lost his serve once in the first set and twice in the second set and lost to Kiefer for the first time since 1997.  Now Tim will be in a race against time to get back to Europe and to recover from the long haul flight in order to take his place in the draw of the CA Trophy in Vienna alongside Magnus Norman.  The absence of both Pete Sampras and Lleyton Hewitt will probably give Tim greater motivation to try to break his losing streak in the tournament where fellow Brit Greg Rusedski is the defending champion.

6 October - Tim into another Semi Final

Tim beat the crowd as well as Michael Chang in their semi final earlier today.   Although Tim seemed to have control early on, he kept letting his initiative slip and had to come through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and plays Nicolas Kiefer in the semi finals tomorrow.

4 October - Tim through to another Quarter Final

Tim had a fairly easy ride against Mariano Zabaleta in Hong Kong earlier today.   Tim broke twice in the first set to take control and although he slipped to 0-2 down at the start of the second, he recovered well to break back and eventually broke again to win the set and the match 6-2, 6-4.  However, the task in the next round will not be easy.  Tim will face Michael Chang who is going for a fourth title in Hong Kong.  MC seems to think it is his "God" given right to win in the Far East so it will be up to Tim to show him that he can't always have it his way.  Their quarter final will take place on Friday so Tim will have a day off tomorrow to practice that serve and plan his strategy for this match and the forthcoming matches on the ATP in the coming weeks.

Tim's assault on the Vienna title may be somewhat easier next week - Pistol Pete has been forced to pull out of the event for personal reasons.... I wonder what that could be - HIS Honeymoon perhaps????????  Excuse me going off at a tangent!!! - I just want to add my congratulations to both Pete and Brigitte - I hope they will be very happy together!!!

3 October - Tim beats Levy to set up clash with Zabaleta

Tim let slip the first set of his clash against Harel Levy before turning things around thereafter.  With a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, Tim heads into his second round match against Mariano Zabaleta with more practice than expected.  After his slump in form during the Olympics, Tim thankfully got back on track - maybe too much partying with Team GB in Sydney???? Anyway back to the Tour - Tim is set to play Mariano in the evening match tomorrow night.

2 October - Tim in Hong Kong

Tim has been seeded 2 in his first ATP tournament back since the Olympics.  He is due to play Israel's Harel Levy in the first round, with a second round match against either Mariano Zabaleta or Hicham Arazi.

26 September - Olympic Round Up

The Olympic tennis events are nearly over in Sydney and have sprung a few surprises.   Many of the popular names lost early (if they turned up at all) and of the final 4 in the men's tournament, only one player was seeded.  Yevgeny Kafelnikov will certainly hope he can repeat his Aussie Open victory over Germany's Tommy Haas in the battle for the gold medal whilst the bronze medal was won by France's Arnaud di Pasquale who beat Switzerland's Roger Federer in the bronze medal play off.   Of the top seeds, Tim was not the only top player to fall early.  Number one seed Marat Safin was brought sharply down to earth after back to back event victories when he lost his opening match against Fabrice Santoro.  Meanwhile the other Western European countries have certainly prospered at Homebush this year with France and Spain being well represented until the very latter stages.  The Woodies look set to go out on a high because they have reached the Olympic final against the Canadian pair of Nestor and Lareau.  The Spanish pair of Corretja and Costa won the bronze from Adams & De Jager from South Africa.  Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge have done so much for tennis over the years, particularly Australian Tennis that I hope they go out on a high.  It will undoubtedly be Mark and Todd's match together because Mark is not really intending to play again except possibly in the Davis Cup final against Spain in Barcelona in December.   GO WOODIES!

The ladies competition very quickly became a continuation of the Williams Story.   With the chosen absence of Martina Hingis and the forced withdrawal of Lindsay Davenport, the way was left clear for Venus to continue her magnificent run.  She won through to final with little or no trouble (although she lost a few sets along the way) and beat Russian newcomer Elena Demientieva in the final in the early hours of Wednesday morning and can still make it an Olympic double because she is still in the Ladies Doubles event with sister Serena.  Monica Seles won a well deserved bronze medal after beating Australian Jelena Dokic in the third place play-off match.

25 September - Tim fronting golfing charity event for children

Tim will be joined with friends and rivals from tennis and the sporting world in a Pro-Celebrity Golfing Day during October.  It is all in aid of Tim's new charity initiative - Kids at Heart - which will raise money jointly for children's charities including SPARKS and the Sargent Cancer Care for Children fund (which is presently benefitting from contributions whenever Tim serves aces in tennis matches - this year).

The event will take place on Monday 16th October at Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire and will feature Tim playing alongside Pistol Pete Sampras, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and other famous celebrities including Hugh Grant, Jeremy Guscott, Steve Rider and Annabel Croft.   

20 September - British Olympic Casualties in Tennis

British medal hopes in the tennis event of the Sydney Olympics were dashed in the space of 7 hours when first Tim and then Greg lost their first round matches at the Homebush venue.  Tim lost to Karol Kucera in just 90 minutes 6-3, 6-2 whilst Greg lost to Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-3 before breakfast (British time) - Barry Cowan lost to Daniel Nestor yesterday.  Now medal hopes rest on the scratch doubles pairing of Barry Cowan and Kyle Spencer because both Tim and Greg had decided not to take part in the doubles.

An early break opportunity went begging in the third game against Kucera and when Tim lost his own serve in the 8th game, the first set was gone.  An early break in the second set made the position difficult but when Tim lost his serve for a third time in the 7th game of the second set and the match was effectively over.  Tim played well to save Kucera's first three match points but on the fourth he netted his return and so his Olympic hopes are now over, 6-3, 6-2.

16 September - Olympic Tennis Special

The draw for the Olympic tennis tournament has now been made and Tim has a tough draw.   He will play Slovakia's Karol Kucera in the first round and faces a likely match with Michael Chang in Round 3.  Tim is due to start his campaign on Tuesday.   Quite surprisingly, Tim has decided not to take part in the doubles and try to defend his silver medal.  Instead Great Britain will be represented by Kyle Spencer and Barry Cowan.  More news on Tim's progress as it happens.

The rest of the Brits have a tough time too.  Greg faces Arnaud Clement from France in the first round - (Arnaud has had a superb US hard court season), whilst Barry Cowan gets a place in the singles draw because so many other players have dropped out.   Barry faces Daniel Nestor from Canada with a possible second round meeting with home favourite Patrick Rafter.

Several tennis players were very visible during the opening ceremony including Tim, who seemed to be completely enjoying himself, jumping up and down and waving at the cameras.   Other players included Guga, Pat, Lleyton and many of the girlies.    

12 September - Olympic Update

Tim's chances of winning a medal in the Olympic singles event must be getting somewhat shorter with the withdrawal of several top qualify names from the singles entry list.   Andre Agassi, Nicolas Lapentti and Sebastien Grosjean are amongst the latest casualties due to injury and family crisis.  Guga Kuerten has been out (but now back in again) due to a dispute between his main clothing sponsor Diadora and the Brazilian uniform providers but thankfully this is dispute has now been settled.   The newly crowned US Open Champion, Marat Safin will be one of the favourites, along with Kuerten but anyone who is going to do well is going to have to contend with the Aussie might of Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis who will all have the support of the patriotic Australian crowd at the impressive Homebush arena.

7 September - Davis Cup Draw

Tim and Greg will have to wait for the outcome to two Davis Cup matches before they will know who their opponents will be in Euro Africa Group 1 next year.  Seeded number 1 in their Group, they wait for the winners of the play-off tie (between Portugal and South Africa) to play Ukraine in February before their next opponents for April 2001 are known.  It is quite ironic that a tie against Portugal would be at home but a tie against either Ukraine or South Africa would be away.  I give Portugal about a 10% chance of coming through that little minefield - so it looks as if Team GB will have to play away next year (probably on clay) and win if they are to stand a chance of making it back into the World Group for 2002.

3 September - Tim heading for Sydney early

Tim's match with Richard Krajicek finished after 1 am New York time and after 6 am in the UK.  However, the outcome was not the happiest for British fans but the match was a cracker.  With Tim leading two sets to one, I thought he would probably be able to finish the contest in four sets but Tim's serve went awol and the double faults started to mount up.  Three double faults were Tim's downfall in the 12th game of the fourth set and soon it was two sets all and a battle right down to the wire.  Unfortunately Tim was serving second in the final set so was playing catch up throughout.  He certainly felt more pressure on serve and although he managed to keep the match alive once (holding serve in the 10th game), when it came down to doing it again he just failed, leaving Richard Krajicek through to the fourth round to play Dominik Hrbaty who beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov.  For the record Tim lost 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Tim's next event will be the Sydney Olympics which begins in the week commencing 18th September.  Meanwhile, Tim's eyes will be on the Davis Cup draw for 2001 on Thursday as Great Britain will find out its fate in the Euro African Group I next year.

2 September - Tim vs Tricky Dickie in night match

Tim's third round match against Richard "trickie dickie" Krajicek is the night match tonight...  Update tomorrow once I have recovered from a lack of sleep! Let's hope Tim can keep the British flag flying after Greg lost last night.

31 August - Tim to play Crackerjack on Saturday!

Tim lost his first service game today during his second round match against Fernando Gonzales but soon turned things around.  He broke back, broke again and never looked back.  Things went from strength to strength in the second set when Tim further gained the initiative and Gonzales lost heart.  The match was over in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and the next person in line is be Richard Krajicek who beat Andre Sa for the loss of only 6 games.

29 August - Tim through first hurdle in Flushing Meadows

Tim produced a superb business like performance in his first round match in New York yesterday.  He never looked as if he was under threat from his Spanish opponent, Fernando Vicente (or Vicente Fernando as the commentators kept calling him on Radio 5 Live).  Early breaks in each set put Tim on the right path and Vicente never got in his stride.  Tim won in under two hours, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 and will now play a qualifier, Fernando Gonzales from Chile in Round 2. 

News of the other Brits in the draw was not quite so good as both Jamie Delgado and Barry Cowan both lost their first round matches in straight sets.  Britain's number two, Greg Rusedski will play his first round match on Wednesday.  This will be his first match since the Davis Cup in July. 

23 August - US Open News

After his good run of form at both Cincinnati and Indianapolis, Tim managed to get the 11th seeding position for the US Open, the final Grand Slam event of this Millennium year.   He has drawn Fernando Vicente in the first round - Vicente was the little 'git' who beat Tim in five sets at Roland Garros earlier this year.  I suspect Tim will have a point to prove when they meet up next Monday/Tuesday!  If Tim is going to compile a good run at Flushing Meadows, he will most likely have to do it the hard way.  He faces a possible third round encounter with Richard Krajicek, a Last 16 meeting against Yevgeny Kafelnikov (a rematch of their QF at Indianapolis) and Pete Sampras in the Quarter Finals. 

22 August - Indianapolis and Cincinnati News Update

A run to the final in Cincinnati followed by a semi final place in Indianapolis included three of Tim's best victories for a long time.  He got a first win over Pete Sampras in Round 3 in Ohio, beat the world number one (The Champions Race) Gustavo Kuerten in the semis but fell just short of a tournament victory when Thomas Enqvist won their final contest in straight sets. 

Tim then had to come from a set down in Indy against Younes El Aynaoui in the third round before he won a final set tie break, just before a really bad hail/tornado storm hit Indianapolis and halted play for the rest of the day.  Tim complained about the court and he was right - it was not legal.  There was not enough room between the baseline and the back netting - a stupid mistake when you consider that the players keep voting Indy the best tournament they attend.  In the quarter finals, Tim played another match of his life to clock up another victory over Yevgeny Kafelnikov in straight sets before Yev's Davis Cup team mate Marat Safin proved just too good in the semi finals.  

8 August - Tim beats Mamiit

Tim played his first match in Cincinnati tonight and although he lost the second set (another case of secondsetitis?), he came through pretty easily in the end, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 and will next play Mariano Puerta in Round 2.  If he gets past Puerta, Sampras will probably lie in wait because Pete beat Zabaleta pretty easily today too.   For the next week or so, all future updates will be appearing on the message board as I am heading off for a week or so.  More pictures maybe in the offing!!!!!

6 August - Cincinnati News

The singles draw for the Tennis Masters Series has been released and Tim is down to play a qualifier in the first round.  He is seeded 15th after Pioline and Rafter withdrew.  More news when available.

2 August - Toronto storm brewing

Oh my - Tim's torrid summer continued tonight when he went down in three sets to Marcelo Rios in the Tennis Masters Series event in Toronto.  The score is pretty immaterial - in fact it was incredibly unlucky of Tim to draw someone like Rios in his first match back after two week's break.  Tim was soon playing catch up after losing the opening set but even when he levelled the match by winning the second set, it still looked far from over.  Having seen Tim and Marcelo play each other live in Miami in March, I knew that Tim would have to fight really hard to win - especially with Rios just starting to come back to form after injury and in the end he came up second best.   Match score 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.  All I can say is "Bring on Cincinnati"!

30 July - Tim back on the ATP Tour this week

Tim is seeded 15th at the Tennis Masters Series in Toronto this week and has a tough opening round match against Marcelo Rios to contend with.  Rios is just coming back to form after various injuries this year and reached the final in Umag recently.   However, he then blighted this by getting himself defaulted in Los Angeles last week.  So Tim has a lot to play for - he should get through this opening match but Andre Agassi lies in wait in the third round so all in all a tough week.  Though having said that Tim is now rested from the Davis Cup and Wimbledon so hopefully he is back and HUNGRY for success.

16 July - Great Britain Relegated from World Group

By now you will all know that Tim's valient efforts over the past weekend have been in vain.  Although Tim won his two singles matches in straight sets, this was not enough to keep Britain in the elite 16 teams in the world.  After Greg lost the opening singles rubber to Ecuador's top player Nicolas Lapentti in five sets (and having a break in the final set) and then withdrawing from the doubles and decisive final day's matches, it was always going to be an uphill struggle. 

The doubles turned into an exhibition of superb teamwork as Nico and Giovanni Lapentti took the scratch partnership of Tim and Arvind Parmar apart in straight sets but with that mountain to climb, Tim did as much as anyone could have asked and won the fourth rubber to keep the tie alive against Nico in straight sets.  I must say that this was the most determined I have seen Tim play for a long time - and as you know I have been watching his career and matches closely for over 5 years now. 

However, the fifth and deciding rubber was something Tim had absolutely no control over and when thrust into the bear pit of Davis Cup crowds for the final rubber, Arvind Parmar drowned.  He did have a two sets to love lead and perhaps can only blame himself for relaxing during the third set.  He just did not seem to have the killer instinct so important in Davis Cup tennis when he really needed it and the consequence is that Britain is now relegated to Euro Africa Group 1. 

I personally want to congratulate Nico and Giova for such a wonderful three days of tennis. They came to the Lion's Den of British tennis and pinched the greatest prize of all. I did consider not going to the tie at all and staying at home but this would have been just too much personal torture. I did what I thought was right.  

Perhaps the blame for the loss of this tie should not lie at my feet but at the feet of the LTA who spend over the £30 million every year - the profit they get from Wimbledon - whilst Ecuador have profits of thousands rather than millions.

13 July - Davis Cup Draw and Team news

The Great Britain vs Ecuador tie starts tomorrow with Greg kicking off things for Britain against Nico Lapentti.  For those of you who have been making comments about Nico's comments about Greg on the Message Board - Nico never said them and I know this for a fact because I got it from the "horse's mouth" himself today. 

The timetable for the tie is as follows:

Friday 12 noon        Greg Rusedski vs Nicolas Lapentti followed by Tim Henman vs Luis Adrian Morejon
Saturday 2 pm         Tim and Greg vs Nico and Giovanni Lapentti
Sunday 12 noon       Tim vs Nico followed by Greg vs Luis

4 July - Tim bamboozled by the Scud on Centre Court

Another five set match and another miraculous recovery.  Mark Philippoussis is quickly becoming the biggest prospect and reducing his odds of winning a Grand Slam as he advanced to the quarter finals of Wimbledon yesteday.  This time it was at Tim's expense.  After having an abysmal first set, Tim fought back really well and got to grips with the Philippoussis serve to take a decisive break in the 12th game of the second set and then eventually the third set on a tie break.  Mark should have rolled over and died at this point but he is obviously working on adrenaline at present and came storming back.  I think Tim will look back on the fourth set as being the decisive time of the match because he seemed to relax slightly and maybe did not attack as much as he could have done (in hindsight).  Once the fourth set was over, I think Mark got so much self-belief in his ability to win that this was the overriding factor as the final set progressed.  Having played such a long match on Saturday, Mark obviously never doubted his stamina (something that has been questionable in the past) and Tim may have lost just a little self - belief that he could win and progress to another quarter final.   One break of serve in the 7th game of the final proved to be decisive and although Tim saved 3 match points on his own serve in the 9th game, he had absolutely no answer to the four aces that Mark produced in his last service game to win 6-1, 5-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.   He next plays Andre Agassi and it will be interesting to see if one of the best returners in the game can quell the power of the Scud's serve.

Tim on the other hand will have a few days off and be back at Wimbledon next week to prepare for the Davis Cup play-off tie. 

1 July - Tim through to second week of Wimbledon

Three victories down the track already and Tim is now in the second week of the Wimbledon Championships yet again.  Apart from losing the first set of his first round match against Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand but that was not due to bad play, Tim has served and volleyed his way through the next 9 sets to reach the fourth round for the fifth year running. 

In the first round, Tim served well throughout and soon the Thailander's resolve went in the face of a continued barrage of hard hitting from the British eighth seed.  If there were any doubters in the crowd about Tim's confidence in his game, these were soon silenced.  Two first round losses would usually have hit a player for 6, but Tim seemed to revel in the atmosphere of his favourite tournament to gain his first win on grass this year.  In the end it was a comprehensive defeat for Paradorn Srichaphan and Tim moved on 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. 

The good news for Timothy was that he did not have a nightmare second round match against former finalist Goran Ivanisevic.  The demolic Croatian was beaten at the first hurdle by Frenchman Arnaud Clement who is starting to show his own prowess on grass.   As has been occuring for much of the last year, Goran did not seem to have the fight about him to win and went down in 4 sets to Clement who is far too good a player not to accept every ounce of luck and chance thrown his way.  It was a good win for him because I saw Goran play at Queens and Roehampton and he was hitting the ball well for a change.  Obviously his confidence went again in the face of the French barrage from the baseline.  [Personally I think it was the same sort of barrage from Vince Spadea that caused Greg to lose it on the first day of the Championships].

In the second round, Tim had his troubles with Arnaud Clement.  I think he was a little surprised at just how well the Frenchman was able to move the ball around the court.  On more than one occasion, Tim looked like he might be losing control but he still came through with a straight sets victory, with the symetrical scoreline 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and booked a place in the third round against Moroccan Hicham Arazi who is also starting to learn to play good tennis on grass.

And so to Saturday.  People's Saturday.  The start of the day saw Wimbledon's Millennium celebrations with a parade of over 50 living singles and doubles champions from the last century.  Players like Bunny Austin one of the triumvirate of British players who won around the Fred Perry era, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and more update players like Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova all paraded across the centre court to receive a commemorative plate before the current prolific champion Pete Sampras had a scare against Justin Gimelstob before winning in 4 sets.  Tim was on court third and gave a performance that he can be proud of, producing a lovely serve/volley flowing game which many of the past champions enjoyed watching.  It was a relatively easy victory for Tim and he really did not have to produce his best tennis to beat the Moroccan, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in just under 110 minutes. 

Today he will be the fresher player in his fourth round match because his opponent, Mark Philippoussis, had to play a staggering 5 hour, 5 set match which will go down as the longest 5 set match in Wimbledon history which started and ended on the same day.  He was playing Sjeng Schalken who was the unfortunate loser again last year when he did much the same thing to Jim Courier (played over 2 days) and forced Mark to finally win 20-18 in the final set, one which took over 2 hours in itself.

Personally I think Mark will be extremely exhausted and Tim should take advantage of this early on.  If the weather does not interfere (and it just might because the forecast is not good), Tim will be on court in the early evening after Pete Sampras and Martina Hingis and should win in straight sets, unless something unforeseen happens.   Mark will be feeling achy and will still be having some delayed reaction to his exertions on Saturday night so Tim should be moving his opponent around the court at every opportunity.  Although the Australian does have a winning record against him, Tim does know how to beat him and should by now be able to handle the Scud's bombastic serve which is one of this most fiercesome weapons.  Tim is still on to play Agassi because the American came from 3 match points down against Todd Martin before seeing Jerome Golmard's challenge off in three straight sets.  Andre plays David Prinosil today and although the German did win the tournament in Halle just two weeks ago, he should not have the weapons to realistically beat Agassi.

25 June - Tim not on court till Tuesday

The order of play has been released for the first day of The Championships and for the first time since 1996, Tim is not due to play until Tuesday.  Highlights on the first day include Pete Sampras, Greg Rusedski, Richard Krajicek, Magnus Norman, Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova to name but a few.  Tim has got another day to prepare himself for his latest assault on Pete Sampras' title in south-west London.

20 June - Jonas Bjorkman defeats Tim (again)

Today Tim's summer nightmare got worse and worse as he preceded to lose a set advantage to lose his first round match in Nottingham to Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman.  Rain interrupted the match in the first set with Tim leading by a break 4-3 and when the players got back on court about 40 minutes later, Tim was unsettled and let Jonas come back to 5-5.  Tim then broke again and served out the set 7-5 finishing it with an ace.  The second set went with serve for the first 9 games and then Bjorkman broke Tim's serve again to take the set 6-4.  Things went from bad to worse for Tim in the third set and he finally lost it 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 when Bjorkman (incidently the 1998 Nottingham Open winner) broke again in the final game to take his best win for some time.

It means that Tim will start at Wimbledon next Monday not having won a match on grass since this time last year when he beat Pioline in the quarter final stages of the SW19 Grand Slam.  And if things couldn't be worse, Tim's draw at Wimbledon could be a nightmare.  All I can say is that if Tim is going to win Wimbledon this year, he will be doing it the hard way.  His first round opponent is Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand which should be easy enough (although Tim will have the added pressure that he won't have won a match in nearly a month).  However, the hard stuff could come as early as Round 2 when he is probably going to have to play Goran Ivanisevic, Magnus Larsson (or worse still a Qualifier), Mark Philippoussis and Andre Agassi in the quarters if he is to fulfil his 8th seeding position.

15 June - Tim will play at Nottingham

It did not take Tim long to decide that he had to go to Nottingham and he has confirmed that he will be there next week - so lucky people of Nottingham and surrounding areas.... make sure you go to support him!!!

14 June - Tim back to square one on Grass

Tim had one of those days he would prefer to forget yesterday when he took on American qualifier, Bob Bryan, in his opening match at Queens Club.  Last year's finalist, Tim never really seemed to settle and played really tentatively when he should have been attacking.  Having broken the American in the very first game (proably due to nerves on Bryan's part), Tim was immediately broken himself and went through the entire first set playing catch up.  Bob Bryan (the left handed one of the Bryan twins) had already played four matches on the grass of Queens (so had the dreaded word "Qualifier" after his name) as well as Surbiton last week so was well groved on Tim's favourite surface.  [Although I don't want to tell Tim how to do his job, perhaps it might have been a good idea to get a match or two on the scoresheet in the exhibitions at Surbiton?!   then he would have been groved himself?]  The first set was settled by a tie break and some fantastic aggressive shots by the young American left Tim trailling 0-4, a deficit he never recovered, losing the breaker 7-2. 

Although Tim had chances to get ahead in the second set, he never really got to grips with the Bryan serve and at 4-4 served a game he would like to forget.  Some fantastic returns from Bob Bryan left him with the decisive break of serve and although Tim rallied hard and Bryan did wobble a little (missing his first three match points), the American launched the final serve at the 8th seed and Tim's reply fell into the net.  

This is the first time that Tim has lost in his opening match at Queens for some years.   He has a few days to decide whether or not to play at Nottingham.  Frankly I agree with many of you on the Message Board that he should play there because it will not be good for his confidence and morale if he enters Wimbledon without at least one competitive win on grass but still it is his decision.  I am sure he will make the right one for himself.  This loss won't do his chance to get a major elevation in the seedings much good and with many the supposed claycourters within  the top 16 entry list at present, there are many "grasscourters" out there who will be unlikely to be seeded so many stumbling blocks in the draw.

11 June - Queens Draw News

Tim is one of the 8 seeded players at the Stella Artois tournament which starts tomorrow.  He has a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the match between Sargis Sargsian and Bob Bryan in round 2.  The match will not be before Tuesday at the earliest and if all goes to plan, Tim should meet his grasscourt nemises Pete Sampras at the quarter final stage. 

10 June - Tim Henman World in the Press

I am pleased to be able to announce that this website has been featured in the July edition of THE NET magazine.  Although I haven't seen the article yet, I do believe that it is probably the only "Fan Site" that is featured in their tennis website review. 

Tim returns to competitive action this week on the grass courts of Queens Club, West Kensington.  With the inclusion of several big names this week, Tim is only going to be seeded 7 or 8 and will have his work cut out to repeat his final appearance of last year.  With players like Agassi, Sampras and the French Open finalist Magnus Norman in attendance as well as players like Pioline, Hewitt and Enqvist, the Queens line up is the best for several years.  The top 8 seeds will be getting a bye in the first round.  More news on the draw later today.

5 June - Tim fails at the third hurdle again

Tim must have been kicking himself when he fought back from a 2 sets to 1 deficit against Spaniard Fernando Vicente to eventually lose in a final set shoot out.  Tim had early breaks in all the sets (including the last one) but as the clock ticked towards the 4 hour mark, he came of second best for the second year running at Roland Garros.   Once again Tim has shown that he has made progress on the clay this year but has a way to go before he can say he is one of the best on clay.  Now the Tour turns to grass and Tim's favourite tournaments of Queens and Wimbledon.  We wait to see if Tim can go any better that his final against Pete at Queens and his second successive semi-final (again against Sampras) at Wimbledon.

With the news that Andre Agassi has accepted a wild card at Queens, joining his compatriot Pete Sampras for the first time, Tim has been shunted down the seeding list for the Stella Artois event that starts on Monday.  7 of the top 10 are entered including the likes of Sampras, Agassi, Hewitt and Norman so Tim will have to work hard to achieve what he did last year.

31 May - Tim wins again

There was a time when Tim Henman just couldn't stomach clay - but times change and a change of diet is helping Tim to digest the slow red stuff you get on the Roland Garros menu.  Henman likes to model his game on Pete Sampras and knew he didn't want to follow in the American's footsteps here this year after Sampras duly departed the French Open by falling at the first hurdle on Monday.  Tim marched into the third round with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory over Germany left-hander Christian Vinck.

Tim won his second match at Roland Garros earlier today.  He beat Christian Vinck, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 and is next down to play Fernando Vicente in the third round.  Aside from a third set lapse, where he trailed by a break, Henman was always in command and a little self-criticism afterwards was a measure of his new-found confidence on the surface. Tim reached this stage last year before losing to Albert Berasategui in five sets having been 2 sets up.  Let's hope that Tim does not suffer the same fate on Friday.  On a day when several of the favourites (as well as the top seeds) floundered it was good to see Tim prosper on his least favourite surfaces.

He warned his next opponent that he will not be a pushover "My overall quality of play is probably as high as it's ever been in my career. There have always been players with my style of play who have been able to play on clay," said Henman. "The way I'm moving around the court running balls down is as well as I've ever moved."

30 May - Tim beats Spadea before the rains fell

For the first time since 1973 play was completely abandoned at Roland Garros today.   However, Tim was lucky he played yesterday.  After two tight sets, Tim came through to beat Vincent Spadea in three straight sets and next plays German - Vinck in the next round.  Tim had to concentrate really hard in the second set because Spadea decided to do a "Golmard" and disappeared to take an "emergency" toilet break at the key point of the set and was away from the court for nearly 10 minutes.  After the first two sets, Tim was nearly home and dry and perhaps relaxed slightly, allowing Spadea to come back but he still finished things 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 to be the sole surviving Brit after two days at the tournament. 

24 May - Tim seeding for Roland Garros

Tim has been seeded in the 13th position for the French Open which begins on Monday.   Although he is ranked at 12th in the 2000 ATP Champions Race, Tim is only ranked at 13 in the ATP Entry System.  The top seed in the event is Andre Agassi, followed by Pete Sampras and Magnus Norman.  Good Luck Tim - more news after the Bank Holiday - Off to Paris for a long weekend tomorrow.  I will try to update the Message Board so keep an eye on that for further news.

18 May - Tim beaten by Zabaleta again

Turn the clock back 12 months and you will see Tim playing Mariano Zabaleta at the quarter final stage of the Hamburg Super 9 series.  This week has seen this match repeated and the result was the same (except that last year Tim won a set)!  This year Tim lost their third round encounter 7-5 6-3 and now has 10 days to prepare himself of the French Open which begins at Roland Garros, Paris on Monday 29th May.

17 May - Golmard gets Henmanised!

Tim recovered from what in his own words was an "abysmal" first set to record perhaps his best win on clay this year (if not his career) over the dreaded Frenchman - Jerome Golmard 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.  He now faces Mariano Zabaleta who beat him at the quarter final stage of the same tournament last year.  Zabaleta is obviously on good form at present dispensing with the Australian whirlwind Lleyton Hewitt in three sets.   The day's schedule was severely affected by rain but the weather seems to have helped Tim rather than hinder him.  He was lucky because he was playing on the centre court when the rain fell and after a short delay for the roof to be closed, Tim and Jerome were able to continue.  In the second and third sets, Tim went on the attack and made very short shrift of the Frenchman was  really struggling on the surface towards the end of the match.

15 May - Tim beats Arazi in Hamburg

Tim kept the British flag flying in style when he beat Moroccan Hicham Arazi in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.  The match looked as if it might go the distance when Arazi got to the point of serving for the second set.  However, he suffered a mental collapse and Tim needed no second chances.  He won in 1 hour 29 minutes. 

14 May - Hamburg News Update

Tim completes his preparation for the French Open when he takes part in the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg.  Having had a short stop in Rome (beat Byron but lost to Santoro), Tim will be hoping for a better run this week.  He is seeded 8th and plays Hicham Arazi in the first round.  Their match is due first on centre court on Monday (1st day of the tournament). 

I have to apologise for the lack of information on the websites during the past week.   I have had a slight computer problem (like I have not been near my "freeserve" computer for 5 days)!  This should be rectified now because I am moving all my IT equipment to my new flat in London so normal service will be resumed forthwith (hopefully!)

7 May - Italian Open, Rome

Tim is seeded 8 in Rome this week.  He will play Byron Black in the first round.   He will have to work hard to repeat his third round performance of last year because several tricky hurdles lie in his way. 

5 May - Tim tries to silence his critics

Tim has attempted to stop the media and tennis world in general from criticising his decisions about the team of supporters and coaches he has with him.  Words are very nice but actions would be good Tim!  Personally I stand by my comments I made during April (see March Update 3).  If Tim really wants to silence his critics for good, he had better start delivering.  The media are only trying to find a reason why Tim is not up with the very best - and coaches are always the first to get the blame (aka Football Managers, etc....)!!

20 April - Tim has mixed fortunes in casino capital of Monte Carlo

Tim started his 2000 campaign against Marc Rosset with a good solid victory.   Unfortunately, his luck ran out against Argentinian qualifier Juan Ignaceo Chela.   Tim rallied from a set and 2-4 down to win the second set and lead 3-1 before Chela ran away with the match to win.  After 2 rounds only 3 of the 16 starting seeds are left in the tournament.  Tim joins the clay court specialist trio of Guga, Rios and Lapentti with early defeats.  Incidently Tim's loss to Chela is not as bad as may be thought - Juan did actually beat Guga on red clay in Mexico City earlier this year!

18 April - Tim rises to No.6 in Champions Race

Tim plays his first round match today in Monte Carlo, safe in the knowledge that he is feeling more comfortable on the red clay than ever before - probably. Although he lost to Medvedev last week in Estoril at the QF stage, Tim has risen to No.6 in the ATP Champions Race. However, there is only 11 points between himself and 12th place so anything can happen over the next few weeks. He plays Marc Rosset in MC which will not be easy, but with Greg already having been beaten by Slava Dosedel, it is up to Tim to keep the British flag flying.

14 April - Tim fails to get past Ukrainian specialist

Tim blamed an inability to take advantage of 12 break chances (from 14) for his 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Andrei Medvedev in Estoril this week. Tim has never won more than 2 matches in a row on clay on the ATP Tour but he gave it his best shot as he came from 0-4 down in the second set to 4-3 (breaking the Medvedev serve twice) showing that his tactics on clay are improving. He goes into the 3rd tournament in the Tennis Masters' series with a lot of confidence.

13 April - Tim beats Gaudio

Tim needed several match points before he was able to finish off Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 6-4. After breaking serve in the opening game of the match, Tim was in control throughout his contest with the young Argentinian. The next match will be a tougher challenge though - Andrei Medvedev, last year's French Open finalist awaits.

12 April - Davis Cup news

Great Britain have been very lucky in the Davis Cup play-off draw. They have been granted a home tie so they can play on grass. The opponents - Ecuador and as regular visitors to my sites will know, I know a thing or two about the boys from Ecuador!

11 April - Tim wins his Oscar in Estoril

Tim beat Spaniard Oscar Burrieza 6-3, 6-4 and will next play Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.

The seeded countries have been announced for the Davis Cup play-off round in July. As expected Great Britain is amongst them. When the draw takes place tomorrow morning (London time), GB will be drawn against one of the following: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Chile, Ecuador, India, Romania or Uzbekistan. I think Austria, Belgium and India would definitely be away, whilst Romania would be at home. I think the home advantage for the others would have to be drawn by lot.

MARCH UPDATE 3 - Miami Heat and a Quarter Final opportunity to savour

After 10 days without a competitive match, Tim had to fight for his life against the Argentinean qualifier Agustin Calleri (that guy is certainly worth a second glance!).    Having won the first set, Tim had chances to win it in straight sets but lost the tie break and it was lucky that he was serving first in the final set which put the pressure on Calleri as the match boiled up to its conclusion.  Tim eventually won - only to set himself a match against another South American, Mariano Zabaleta.  The Argentinian was ultra confident as he had beaten Tim on his home turf in London and led Tim by 3-1 (3 breaks of serve already) before Tim turned the match on its head to win the next 8 games in a row to take the set 6-3 and lead 3-0 before Zabaleta rallied and made a fight of it. Tim eventually won with the loss of only 6 games. The next match was a story of a sleeping tiger in the first set (Rios) and then a classic case of Tim's second setitis when Rios woke up and became a black panther before the third set became a real match. Tim broke Rios' serve for 3-1 and then for 4-2 only for the Chilean to come back each time. The set came down to a deciding set tie break which Tim won 7-4.

However, you can never count a champion out - and Andre is one person that has championship grit and courage to come fighting back. Tim served for the match at 5-4 but never reached that elusive match point. Andre broke back and held serve to leave Tim with the awkward task of holding serve just to take the match into a sudden death tie break - which he did! The players exchanged mini breaks early on before Tim reached the first match point 6-5 with a winning serve. Two match points later (9-8) Tim had a chance to close out on his own serve but double faulted. I still can't believe he did that! In all Tim had 4 match points whilst Andre had 2 - but it was the current Tri-Grand Slam champion who eventually prevailed 12-10 after 2.5 hours of sheer hell! Tim had Andre in the palm of his hand and let go - and unless Tim can develop that certain indescribable something that they call "Championship Winning Material", I seriously doubt Tim will ever become one of the best of the very best!

MARCH UPDATE 2 - Indian Wells Let Down

After playing so well in Arizona, Tim went into the first event of the Tennis Masters' Series with renewed confidence.  But after only two matches, it was back to the golf course and practice courts again as he lost to Sebastien Grosjean in the second round.   Seeded 11th, he took on Karim Alami in the first round and won convincingly before he ran into a Frenchman on a mission.  He struggled throughout and it was perhaps Grosjean's doggedness that got him through.  I don't want to make excuses for Tim - but it was really, really hot (even I was affected by it) and as they say "It just wasn't his day!"  As Lucy was working in the media during the week, Tim stayed in California the entire week and must have spent countless hours on the golf course improving his handicap even more.

MARCH UPDATE 1 - Scottsdale and the Final

Tim went 4 matches without losing a set on his way to reaching his second final of the year.  The weather at the start of the week was more reminiscent of an English grasscourt summer.  It was a complete washout for two days - and as the Arizona public kept pointing out "we haven't had rain like this since last September!"   Tim played Stefan Koubek, Byron Black, Nicolas Lapentti and Albert Costa before bowing out to the Aussie sensation Lleyton Hewitt.  At this point in the 2000 season, Lleyton had only lost once in 19 matches so was the hottest player on Tour.  It was Tim's 6th consecutive final and his first match against Lleyton but unfortunately could not live up to his top billing (he was seeded 5th to Lleyton's 8th) and win.  It was a good confidence builder for the coming weeks - and the golf was good as well!!   With several courses in and around the vicinity of the Princess Resort, Tim was able to get on the golf course as frequently as he stepped out on court.  As Wayne Ferreira told me "Tim's been playing really well recently (golf!) and is probably now the best golfer on Tour!"

Picture opportunities came thick and fast and the results will no doubt be published shortly.  Tim practiced topless before his quarter final and the topless pictures will be available soon.

29 February - Great Britain loses Davis Cup Captain

The LTA in their wisdom have seen fit to sack David Lloyd as Davis Cup Captain and then brother John also got the push as well.  In their place will be Roger Taylor as Captain and Jeremy Bates as Coach.  Even Tim and Greg seem surprised by the events of the last day or so as David's tenure as Captain has been mostly successful - the only tie where he had the chance to select both Tim and Greg (and lost) was the tie last April in Birmingham where the British team came within a whisker of beating the biggest nation of them all - America. 

Tim dropped 4 places in the Champions Race this week and will be hoping to be back up there again when he plays in the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale Princess Resort which starts next Monday.  Updates when they are available.  Keep checking the message board - over the next month.  All news on there when I get a chance to get access whilst I am travelling in the Staes.

23 February - Tim loses the first England / Argentina clash of the day

Tim missed 2 set points in the first set of his encounter with Mariana Zabaleta earlier today and this proved very costly indeed.  A tightly fought first set went to a tie-break and the Argentinian came out on top.  After also failing to convert various break chances at the start of the second set, Tim had to serve to stay in the match at 4-5 down in the second set.  He saved the first of two match points with an Ace but played a shot long on the second.  Final result 7-6, 6-4 to the Argentinian.  I think no one expected too much from Zabaleta before today but believe me - he is good and getting better indoors.  I have been watching him!

Meanwhile there is still the doubles for Tim.  Together with his current partner Yevgeny Kafelnikov, they won their first round match against Bjorkman and Kratzmann and Tim's hopes of defending the title are still on.

21 February - Tim up to 8th in ATP Champions Race

With his final appearance in Rotterdam, Tim earned enough points to jump straight up to No.8 in the 2000 ATP Champions Race.  A good run in London and he can go even higher.   Tim is two victories away from a match with Greg Rusedski.  However, that is not what will be on Tim's mind tonight.  He is teaming up with Yevgeny Kafelnikov again in the doubles and they play No.1 seeds Bjorkman and Kratzmann tonight. 

Tim will not have to play his first singles match until Wednesday.

20 February - Tim defeated in Singles and Doubles

Six sets played today and Tim lost both the Singles and Doubles events at Rotterdam earlier today.  Having rallied from 2-5 down against Pioline in the first set to win the tie break, things went down hill in the second set which the Frenchman won 6-4, after Tim lost his serve in the very first game of the second set.  The final set went to a tie break which Pioline won 7-4.  Final score 6-7, 6-4, 7-6.

Not long afterwards, Tim returned to the centre court with Yevgeny Kafelnikov to play the doubles final against South African pair Adams and De Jager.  However, Tim and Yevgeny came second here too.  So now it is back to London for the AXA Cup this week before Tim heads off over the Atlantic to play in the American hardcourt leg at Scottsdale, Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. 

Bring on Zabaleta!!

19 February - Tim beats Yevgeny to reach the final again

Tim made a really good fast start against Kafelnikov earlier today.  He lead 4-0 in the first set before winning it 6-3.  The Russian fought back in the second and put Tim under more and more pressure until he gained a vital break to level the match.   The final set went with serve early on and eventually Tim came through to win the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the final for the second year running.  However, Tim fans should not be celebrating to early because he has to play Cedric Pioline in the final and that won't be easy.

Tim and Yevgeny also won their doubles semi final and now play the South African pair of Adams and DeJager in the final. 

Meanwhile the draw for the Axa Cup has been released.  Tim is seeded 3 and plays Mariano Zabaleta in the first round at the London Docklands Arena in the event which starts on Monday.  If he reaches the quarter finals, he is likely to have to play either Greg or Jerome Golmard.  As a result of Tim reaching both the singles and doubles final in Rotterdam, he probably won't have to play his first singles match until Wednesday.

18 February - Tim & Yevgeny to play in semi finals

Tim had a tough first set in his quarter final match against Dominik Hrbaty which ended in a tie break, but after that it was all plain sailing.  The final result was 7-6, 6-2.  He now plays the No.1 seed and reigning Champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov (who is also Tim's present doubles partner).  Yevgeny halted the comeback run of Greg Rusedski who lost his quarter final match against Kafelnikov in three sets.

16 February - Full steam ahead in Singles and Doubles

The scratch doubles partnership of Tim and Yevgeny made a winning start earlier this week with a win over seeded opposition Bjorkman and Vacek, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and they will next play Kulti & Nyborg.  Late today Tim took to the singles court again against Fabrice Santoro and won in straight sets 6-2, 7-5.  He is now in the quarter finals where he will face either Jonas Bjorkman again or Dominik Hrbaty. 

15 February - Henman beats Martin easily and teams up with an old foe!

Tim got off to a fantastic start to the tournament in Rotterdam. He beat Albert Martin 6-2, 6-2 and next plays either Alami or Santoro. On the doubles front, he has teamed with his fellow finalist from last year Yevgeny Kafelnikov as a wild card partnership. Their first match will be against seeded opposition in the shape of Bjorkman and Vacek (DV is Yev's usual partner - it will be interesting to see what happens).

14 February - Henman vs Albert Martin in Rotterdam

Tim returns to the Dutch city of Rotterdam this week for the ABN AMRO World Championships. He plays Martin in the first round and is due to meet Lapentti in the quarter finals.

6th February - Novak Too Good

Defeat was how it all ended for the British team. Despite the obvious efforts of Henman and co. they couldn't stop a team who at the end of the day were simply better on their chosen surface. In the fourth rubber Henman played arguably some of his best tennis - yet it wasn't good enough to stop an awesome Jiri Novak. By the third set it was obvious Henman, although physically sharp enough, didn't have the mental strength to shoulder any more burden after the doubles defeat. 4-6 2-6 2-6

Delgado battled well in the dead rubber to take Czech substitute Ulihrach to three close sets. Britain now face a relegation play off in July - the draw is to be made in mid-April.

5th February - Doubles Despair

The doubles match once again proved a problem for the British team - with Henman and Broad going down in four sets to a more proficient and blended team. Two dropped set points in the first set - led the way to a Czech win - despite a third set rally. The British team were still upbeat - and certainly confident of Henman's ability to beat Novak. Leaving the path clear for Jamie Delgado to make himself a hero....

4th February - Tim Battles Back

Tim Henman set the Davis Cup tie alight with a marvellous recovery from two sets down - both close and scrappy. But the final three sets were set apart by the quality of Henman's groundstrokes and sheer determination. Cheered on by a raucous British contingent of around 100 Union Jack clad fans - Henman just got better and better as Dosedel faded. At the end of the match Henman thanked the travelling fans - who were bolstered by some of the Henmagic members and their drum!! 6-7 5-7 6-1 7-5 6-4 NB This was the first time tim had ever recovered from a two set deficit.

Jamie Delgado subsequently lost to Czech Number 1, Jiri, Novak, but was never disgraced - making the home player fight for every game. It will give everyone involved with the British Team some extra confidence should he face Dosedel in a deciding rubber on Sunday. 3-6 6-7 4-6

3rd February - Henmagic Cheer Leading Squad off and Running!!

The Davis Cup is just over 24 hours away and the stawarts of the Henmagic cheering squad are raring to go.  We are flying out today to the Czech Republic and believe me the Czech's don't know what's coming!!!  (Not even the "Lloydies Boys" know!!!)

The team is Tim, Jamie, Arvind and Neil and they hold Britain's hopes of progressing in the 2000 Davis Cup event.  Most of the burden will be on Tim's shoulders (so can we have some major collective praying that his matches are not as long as last year's first round - 4.5 hours, 3.5 hours and 3.25 hours!!!!)

The lovely Robin has promised me that he will try to update this page - so thanks mate in advance!  (However, please feel free to add your own comments on the Message Board!).  Enjoy!!

The tie will be screen on BBC2 over the weekend starting at 1340 hours on Friday, 1400 hours on Saturday and 1200 hours on Sunday.  The main opening ceremony and player line up presentations will take place at 1345 on Saturday (so keep an eye out on BBC2 to check they don't suddenly change sports early!!) 

A full update will be available once I return - and the Davis Cup diary will be available on-line once I have published it in Henmagic.  (Issue 16 will be sent out end of Feb/early March).

24 January - Tim defeated after long haul

After 4 hours on court, Tim succumbed to Chris Woodruff in a five set titanic struggle in Melbourne. The match had its ups and downs with both players serving well (and badly) in tandem. After losing the first set, Tim came back strongly to take the second 6-1 and seemed to have the momentum with him until the latter part of the third set when Chris Woodruff suddenly started to play a little better and took a two sets to one advantage. Although Tim came back to take the 4th set comfortably, Woodruff was waiting to strike. The final set developed into a massive struggle but with Tim serving second, it always seemed as if he was under more pressure just to play catch up. After having loads of break chances throughout the match, Tim could not convert the 3 break chances he had in the 11th game which was his undoing. After Woodruff held serve from the jaws of defeat, he had the necessary confidence to break the Henman serve for the last time and take the match.

Tim now returns to London to prepare for the Davis Cup tie against the Czech Republic on 4th February. After converting back to European time, he will be back in training with the British team before flying out to Ostrava to become acclimitised to the heavy wet clay of the indoor clay court that the Czechs are preparing.

21 January - Tim makes career history!!

After a couple of tight patches, Tim finally won his third round, rain delayed, match against Sebastien Grosjean of France. In the first set Tim was awesome, winning it 6-1 but when Grosjean started to read Tim's serve better in the second set onwards, Tim had to really work hard to maintain his momentum. After the players split breaks of serve, Tim came out on top 6-4 but then let his opponent off the hook, allowing Grosjean to grow in confidence, firing his returns and eventually returning the favour to win the third set 6-4.

In a Rain hit 4th set, things looked even more ominous for Tim as the Frenchman was still firing on all cylindars. Tim had to dig deep (and kept his many courtside as well as worldwide fans on tenderhooks) while he battled back. The set was eventually settled by a tie break but a second short rain shower at 2-2 in the breaker nearly switched the momentum again but Tim came back, converting his 4th match point to win the breaker 8-6 and take his place in the 4th Round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career.

Overall, his service was again over the 60% mark, whilst he served 13 aces (not as many as in his first round match but I think this had something to do with the swirly wind and the humidity). He converted 6 of his 13 break chances and was consistent on his groundstrokes.

Next up for Tim is Chris Woodruff who is another of Tim's bogey players. This is just the sort of draw that Tim would have hoped to avoid. I think he would have been more pleased if he could have drawn Kafelnikov, Agassi, Kiefer and Enqvist in the first few rounds with perhaps an opportunity to take on "Pistol Pete" Sampras towards the end. However, there is one interesting statistic that I have noticed this week. Tim has been consistently serving near or over 60% of first serves and last year's champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov did that too!

Last year when I was sitting courtside for the Men's final, I overheard Larry Stefanki (Yev's coach) being interviewed and what he said is quite eye opening. He was talking about what he said to Yevgeny when he started to coach him. L: "Want to know how Marcelo got to No.1? - Well he consistently served over 65%. Want to know how to win a Grand Slam? - Well you will have to serve consistently at that sort of level and you will become a champ!" [Not bad advice - Tim!]

19 January - Tim waltzes into the next round - and hardly works up a sweat!!

Tim will be proud of his overwelming win over German Rainer Schuttler in Melbourne earlier today (yesterday GMT). After breaking the German in the 3rd and 7th games of the first set, Tim compiled a 14 point run to conclude the set 6-2 and had broken twice early on in the second set, before Schuttler threw in the towel (he was partly injured), to win 6-2, 4-1 by default and in fact only lost 4 points on serve in the entire match which lasted less than one hour, winning 56 of the 92 points played, and continued his superb service results - 64% overall.

Tim must have read my mind in getting the match over quickly! With the first Grand Slam of the season on completely the opposite time frame as GMT, I was beginning to find it extremely hard to function during my daytime at work (I walked round like a dazed zombie all day yesterday!) with this staying up till all hours. Now I can have 6 hours sleep - absolute bliss!!! More draw news later once we know what else has happened on Day 3 of Melbourne 2000!

17 January (v v early!!!!) Tim through the first hurdle!!

As ever Eurosport were true to form and got their timings wrong! However, the tennis was absolutely brilliant throughout. Even though I absolutely detest the guy Golmard - even I admit that he played well. However, Tim played better and came off the very well deserved winner 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6. My only complaint was that Tim did not finish it sooner.... No sleep or very little sleep is not going to prove too good as the tournament goes on...!!!! Next up Rainer Schuttler (another bogey man!!)

Having now slept on the match, I think that is the best that I have seen Tim play since he beat Andre Agassi in Basel in 1998. The consistency on serve was just fantastic and his overall game, groundstrokes, volleys, the lot was great. It is just the sort of match I had hoped I would see from Tim against someone of Golmard's ability. Onward and upward Tim!!!

14 January - Of all the players in all the world.......

I think this would have been the comment that most springs to mind for Tim when the draw was made for the Australian Open earlier today. Tim has been drawn against the dreaded Jerome Golmard (who I don't think I have to mention is a thorn in Tim's side). The only consolation is that with overnight coverage on British Eurosport starting Sunday night onwards is that it should be shown live!

Other interesting match ups in the both the mens and ladies draws include Sampras vs Wayne Arthurs and Hingis vs Lucic..... More views later.  

7 January - The French spoil the party again....

In the early hours of this morning, (GMT of course), Tim lost his quarter final match with Nicolas Escude 6-3, 6-1. Although not thought to be the very best of the French, Escude still enjoyed some great results towards the end of 1999 and has also reached the latter stages of the Australian Open before now so can obviously cope with the heat and humidity of an Australian summer. However, it was not all bad news as Tim won his doubles match with Wayne Arthurs and next play the Lleyton Hewitt / Sandon Stolle partnership.

Later in the day, it was the French again who spoilt Jamie Delgado's run to the quarter finals in Doha.

6 January - Tim into the Last 8

Tim continued his winning run - but only just - today when he beat the Frenchman Lisnard in the second round. Tim lost the first set and had a fight on his hands to win the second set. Once Tim stepped up the pace in the final set, there was only going to be one winner. Tim won 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and meets Nicolas Escude in the quarter finals on Friday.

Though not really Tim related, I have decided that Jamie Delgado's grafting in Chennai should be recognised. After beating defending champion Byron Black in the first round, Jamie won again today when he beat Stanoytchev 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter finals where he plays Jerome Golmard.

5 January - Tim wins twice....

Tim won his opening singles match of the year against the Spanish qualifier, Juan Balcells. He produced a very satisfying performance, winning 6-4, 7-6 and will play Jean Lisnard in the second round - roughly 5.30 am GMT on Thursday morning.

He has also teamed up with Wayne Arthurs in the doubles event and together they beat Aussie favourites (perhaps the new Woodies) Josh Eagle and Andrew Florent but in 3 tight sets, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.

More news when available.

2 January 2000 - Adelaide News

Tim has been seeded 2nd in the AAPT Championships in Adelaide.  He plays a qualifier in the first round, and then another qualifier or a Frenchman called Lisnard in round two.  (hands up all those who have ever heard of Mr. Lisnard??!!)

Lets hope that Tim can start the new Millennium with winning ways!   I'm sure that you will all join me in wishing Tim all the very best of luck for this new ATP Year.