Henman tips Murray to be number one
Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:28
Murray moved ahead of Novak Djokovic into the world’s top three on Monday following the Serbian’s loss to Rafael Nadal in the Internationale BNL d’Italia final which means the 21-year-old has become the first Briton to reach number three in the world rankings.
Henman, who preceded the Scot as British number one, feels confident Murray’s ascent to third in the world is only the beginning, and said: “I think it’s fantastic but I think it’s a reflection of his results. The rankings don’t lie and he’s played so well since Wimbledon last year – there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to go higher and higher.”
Murray has beaten Roger Federer and Nadal – the two players ahead of him – since last year’s All-England Championship and reached the final of the US Open last September.
He is still yet to claim his first grand slam title though and next month’s Wimbledon provides him with a realistic chance of breaking his duck in front of his own fans.
Federer and Nadal will start as favourites but Henman thinks its only a matter of time before Murray overhauls them at the top table.
“There’s only two more spots to go but I really believe that he can be number one in the world one day,” continued the 34-year-old. I think he’s got every opportunity of winning slams because his game is developing so quickly and he’s still so young.”
Two years after retiring from tennis, Henman will be making a Wimbledon appearance himself on Sunday as the former darling of SW19 returns for an exhibition doubles match to test out the new retractable roof on Centre Court.
Henman is due to play alongside Kim Clijsters against married couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf and admits he is feeling a little rusty.
He said: “I’ve been getting ready for the test event for the new roof and its been a bit of a shock to the system. I really haven’t played any tennis for about 17, nearly 18 months so the last three or four weeks I’ve been having to dust down the racquet.”
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