Tim Henman never won the Wimbledon title, despite reaching the semi-finals on four separate occasions.
For all he achieved on the professional circuit, Henman failed to end British tennis’ long wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion – let alone a Wimbledon champion.
Henman last reached the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2002, and he was beaten in straight sets by eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt.
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The Briton, who also made semi-final appearances at Roland Garros and the US Open, has now stated whether he was ever ‘good enough’ to win Wimbledon.
Tim Henman says he was good enough to win Wimbledon
“My dream was to win Wimbledon,” Henman told Carolina Garcia on the Tennis Insider Club.
“And was I good enough to win Wimbledon? I think I was good enough to win Wimbledon.
“I was in the semis four times.
“I made the second week I think nine or 10 years in a row. But there were people better than me.
“[Pete] Sampras was better than me – I lost to him in two semis. Hewitt was world number one and won Wimbledon in 2002.
Tim Henman’s Wimbledon semi-finals
- 1998: lost to Pete Sampras, 3-6, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6
- 1999: lost to Pete Sampras, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6
- 2001: lost to Goran Ivanisevic, 5-7, 7-6, 6-0, 6-7, 3-6
- 2002: lost to Lleyton Hewitt, 5-7, 1-6, 5-7
“I look back with some disappointments, but no regrets. I gave everything I could.”
“Did you make peace with the fact you never won it?” Garcia, a WTA Finals champion, then asked the former world number four.
“Yeah, because if you give 100 per cent, you can’t do more,” Henman responded.
“So I was number four, I won Olympic silver in doubles. I won 11 titles on Tour. I beat [Roger] Federer six times.
“It’s like that was as good as I was meant to be.”
Henman was somewhat unfortunate in that every time he reached the semi-final stage at Wimbledon, he competed against the eventual champion.
Henman also lost to the eventual champion – Roger Federer – in the semi-finals of the 2004 US Open.
At the 2004 French Open, Henman again found himself with a shot at the title after reaching the last four.
Again he was defeated at the semi-final stage, losing to Guillermo Coria in four sets.
Coria went on to lose in the final, defeated by compatriot Gaston Gaudio in five sets.
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Henman’s final Wimbledon appearance
Henman made his first appearance at the All England Club in 1992, losing in the first round of qualifying to fellow wildcard Colin Beecher.
Henman made his final SW19 appearance 15 years later.
Henman began the event by defeating Carlos Moya in an all-time classic, winning 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11.
Feliciano Lopez avenged his compatriot’s loss in the following round, beating Henman in another five-set match.
“The first two sets l felt pretty solid,” said Henman afterwards, as per the BBC. “You play two sets with no breaks and you’ve just got to keep hanging in there.
“The latter part of the third and fourth his game dropped considerably. I kept staying positive but knew when it got into the fifth I’d got to maintain the momentum.
“Suddenly he hits two or three good shots in one game and he’s in the driving seat. It certainly wasn’t through lack of concentration at that moment.”
Henman also stated that he would ‘absolutely’ return for the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.
Henman did not in fact return, calling time on his career in September 2007.
