Henman to retire after DC tie

steven · Tennis legend

Henman to retire after DC tie

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

steven wrote:

Neil Harman in the Times claims Tim will retire at the end of the DC tie, and he's as likely to know as anyone in the media.

I'm sad to see him go. cry

He's been a great ambassador for the sport in this country & his presence will be much missed, but there can be no denying that the writing has been on the wall since the start of the build-up to the USO... hmm

If Neil Harman's got it wrong after this tribute article, he'll have a lot of explaining to... weirdface

No doubt Simon Barnes will weigh in with a decent contribution, too, ere long!

wolf · Tennis legend

I see no real evidence that he is retiring.

jezzauk · Lower Club Player

wolf wrote:

I see no real evidence that he is retiring.

I think this is the strongest evidence yet and as Steven say, Neil does tend to know what he's on about. Sure if he's wrong he'll look a bit silly, but i expect he's experienced enough to have thought that through.
Assuming it is true, it is a shame that he's effectively being forced into this because of his back, but hopefully he'll continue to be a great ambassador for the sport in whatever role he takes up next.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Follow-up from the Beeb's site:

Henman steps closer to retirement

Tim Henman will retire from tennis "sooner rather than later", according to British tennis boss Roger Draper. Draper, the chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, was responding to a report in The Times that Henman would announce his retirement next month. "His agent, Jan Felgate, has said there's been no official confirmation, but it's clear his career will end sooner rather than later," Draper said. Henman has a back injury and has won just three tour matches this season. The former world number four aims to play in this month's US Open before the Davis Cup match on 21 September, but has not entered any ATP tournaments beyond that. He has slumped to 92 in the world rankings, and is set to drop out of the top 100 in the next few weeks.

"Tim's his own man. He's always made his own decisions," Draper said. "He is very patriotric and is taking it a day at a time. He may fancy one more shot at Wimbledon next year, and only time will tell." And BBC Radio 5 Live tennis correspondent, Jonathan Overend, said Henman's actions had suggested for some time that retirement might be imminent. "The clues were there a few weeks back when Henman settled on his American schedule and at the same time sorted out his priorities," Overend said. "He decided to break with tradition and not set up base in the States ahead of the US Open. With a third child on the way, such a part-time schedule was appropriate. But with a ranking about to drift out of the top 100, and a back disorder that won't ever fully clear up, he knows part-time isn't enough."

That injury has forced Henman to pull out of next week's New Haven warm-up event ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows. "It's tough to concentrate on winning when I'm worrying about my back so I want to try and get it right as soon as possible," Henman said. "My goal now is to try and get as much treatment on it as possible before the start of the US Open."

Henman has reached six Grand Slam semi-finals, including four at Wimbledon, and got closest to winning the title when he lost an epic semi-final to wild card, Goran Ivanisevic. In 2003, Henman claimed a prestigious Master Series title in Paris, to complete his array of 11 titles.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

No great surprise. I have been saying for months that if he didn't get some wins and rescue his ranking before it dropped off the face of the earth, he simply wouldn't be able to get into tournaments without wild cards - and nobody can get them ad infinitum (though Philippoussis had a good try!)

Big shame though.

-- Edited by Madeline at 16:53, 2007-08-20

goldfish · Futures qualifying

BBC site now says the following:

'Tim Henman is expected to confirm he is calling time on his career at a news conference in New York on Thursday.'

I do wish the media would wait for Tim to announce it himself before pre-empting his decision and almost writing his obituary. It will be interesting to watch those who have pulled him to pieces over the years, now telling us what a wonderful career he has had.

Well done to Greg for keeping his retirement fairly quiet then announcing it after a win in front of a partisan, supportive audience.

helki · Futures qualifying

I know this is not always something to set great store by wink

but the Beeb did have the story on the 6 PM news. An announcement to be made on Thursday and retirement after the DC. I can only reiterate what others have said, Tim has been a wonderful servant to British tennis and if some of the aspiring current players are half as successful and dedicated they'll do for me. Thanks for giving me so much to look forward to for the past ten years or so. Happy retirement when it comes.

Sorry goldfish, I must have missed your post.

-- Edited by helki at 20:21, 2007-08-20

MrBaseliner · Social player

What happens if Tim has a good run at the US Open and it kicks his ranking up a bit? He's got to have one more Wimby, surely. Come on Tim, you know it makes sense!!!

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Nobody would be more pleased than I would be if he did. Last Chance Saloon, Tim!

TimG · Junior player

My suspistions are that he will just take the rest of the year off to get his back hopefully to some level so that it does not affect him that much. The conme raging back next year and play a bigger schedule.

Or at least that is what i hope

aria81 · Club Coach

Really sad about this. I think part of me was always secretly hoping for a Goran style farewell run at one of the Slams. It's strange thinking of British tennis minus Tim to be honest. Pretty sad that he has to go out because of injury - I was hoping he would at least stick around and play some doubles as that would be less stressful on his body and he would be great at it.

I guess that's Andy stuck on his lonesome in the top 100 for the forseeable with Tim quitting. Just what he needed - the spotlight entitely focused on him.

Andymonium · Satellite level

farewell tim. our hearts will go with you

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

MrBaseliner wrote:

What happens if Tim has a good run at the US Open and it kicks his ranking up a bit? He's got to have one more Wimby, surely. Come on Tim, you know it makes sense!!!

Funny you should say that, Mr B. This story, flimsy though it may appear, is allegedly an exclusive from the sports section of today's London Lite:

Blake: You Brits will miss Henman when he goes

by James Olley

World number six, James Blake, has launched an impassioned defence of Tim Henman's career as the Briton looks set to announce his retirement from the game on Thursday. Blake, 27, believes the 32-year-old's achievements in the game have earned him the right to retire on his own terms and has called on tennis fans everywhere to acknowledge Henman's accomplishments.

"As hard as the English press and some of the public have been on him in his career, I would love to see him now get the respect he deserves because they will miss him when he is gone," said Blake. "I think it's totally up to him if he chooses to retire, because as much as he has done for the sport in England and for the LTA, he deserves to do it all on his own terms. If he feels it's time, then everybody should respect that - he has earned that right." But Blake believes Henman, currently ranked 92, retains the ability to carry on, having beaten the likes of Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick in practice.

"You can add me to that list," admitted Blake, who will appear at the Betfair Turbo Tennis Event at the 02 Arena next month. "I know he has got it in him, but so many people are suggesting he should retire, maybe he has reached that decision. He could quite easily get to the second week of the US Open and it might convince him to carry on."

* God bless Jimmy Blake!

Genuine tennis fans clearly don't need to be told to ackowledge what he's achieved over the years, nor to be told that we'll miss him, nor to have those achievements defended by someone else, but to have earned this public show of respect from a fellow pro says a lot...!

Drew · Aug 23, 2007

Tims USO PC is on the BBc Sport web site in 10 mins - 4pm