Henman: 'Getting the best from your career is an achievement for anyone'

Tim Henman was one of the most loved and popular players of the modern era, although he has received numerous unwarranted criticisms over the course of his career.

Henman was ranked British number 1 in 1996 and again from 1999 to 2005, from which point he was succeeded by Andy Murray. He reached a career high ranking of World No. 4 during three different periods between July 2002 and October 2004. He is one of Britain's most successful open era male tennis players, winning $11,635,542 prize money. In the 2004 New Year Honours, he was appointed an OBE.

“Success is about maximising your potential and I know what I put into my career,” he said to Tennis365. “I gave everything I had and therefore I am very proud of what I achieved. There was criticism at times, but if people want you to give more than 100 per-cent, you are fighting a losing battle. With commitment there are no greys areas, you have to give it 100 per-cent and I did that.

When you are a British player and you are challenging for big titles and especially Wimbledon, you either win it or you lose it. There is no in-between. I’ve never been that interested or bothered by many opinions. I listen to my family and the coaches I worked with and outside of that group I was never influenced.”

Henman also suggested all of his best moments came at Wimbledon: “I played close to 800 matches on the main tour and so many more on the way up, so it is difficult to pinpoint one. It’s always going to centre around Wimbledon and there are three or four that stand out. My first match on Centre Court in 1996 (Yevgeny Kafelnikov) was special and then the Middle Sunday Match in 1997 (against Paul Haarhuis) was probably the best atmosphere I ever played in and then 2001 obviously beating Roger Federer after he had beaten Sampras and then losing to Ivanisevic over three days. I don’t have any regrets and while I still love tennis, I don’t miss playing or the travelling involved with it. Getting the best from your career is an achievement for anyone in sport and I certainly feel I did that.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/35fT5dm