04/24/24
August 23, 2007
Tim Henman announces his retirement.: In 14 seasons as a pro he reached 6 grand slam semis (1 French, 4 Wimbledon, 1 US), 4 grand slam quarters (all Wimbledon), won 11 singles titles, 4 doubles titles, and an Olympic silver medal. He made more than $11 million in prize money and was in the top ten in the world for the best part of a decade, reaching as high as number 4 at one point. Not bad for the man who most casual tennis fans in Britain know best for not winning Wimbledon, especially in 2001 [YouTube]. [wiki]
I'm sure he never wanted Britain to live vicariously through his exploits whenever he won, or become the symbol of a national sporting malaise whenever he lost. But he had to put up with this shit throughout his career. That really sums it up. The guy had the bad luck, like many others, to be competing in the Age of Federer, as well as at a time when a lot of people in England started saying, "Hey, where are our players?" Something similar would probably be happening with the US men's players, if they weren't doing such an excellent job of trampling all over any expectations that anyone might have of them.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:44 AM on August 24, 2007
The guy had the bad luck, like many others, to be competing in the Age of Federer I'm not sure I totally agree with this, as Henman's better/best years were pre-Federer dominance, but during a time when Sampras was dominating at Wimbledon, where Henman had his greatest strengths in terms of playing surface and "home crowd." (Although I suppose it could be argued that the home court advantage could just as easily be turned into the negative of the pressure of playing with the weight of a nation on his shoulders.) As JJ suggests, Henman's best shot was in 2001, where Sampras was knocked out in the 4th round by Federer (who was not quite ready for prime time yet) in their only meeting ever, and Henman subsequently knocked out Federer in the quarters. We were living in London that year, and the rain that some may argue allowed Ivanisevic to beat Henman in the semis (Ivanisevic seemed to be flagging prior to the match being suspended for rain and had nagging injuries the whole championships) allowed my wife to go to the men's final on Monday, getting tickets that day after a bunch of weekend travelers had to give up their tickets. That window in the early 2000s between Sampras and Federer was probably Henman's best shot, but he couldn't take advantage.
posted by holden at 11:17 AM on August 24, 2007
Tim Henman. Sigh. I'm sure he never wanted Britain to live vicariously through his exploits whenever he won, or become the symbol of a national sporting malaise whenever he lost. But he had to put up with this shit throughout his career. Enjoy your retirement, polish your trophies and for God's sake stay away from Buster Mottram.