|
BRITS
WILL FOCUS ON HENMAN, EVEN ON CLAY
For Tim it's no pressure …
until Wimbledon
By
Alix Ramsay
Special to tennisreporters.net
|
Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
|
FROM ROLAND GARROS –
It is that time of year time again, the time when a whole nation
of emotionally repressed Brits do their best to get excited. Wimbledon
is just a month away and, regardless of the fact that Roland Garros
is still easing into life, all eyes are focused on that small and
exclusive patch of green that nestles in southwest London.
The object of the nation's
desire is an equally repressed young man with baggy shorts and a
decidedly iffy haircut. Despite the fact that he has just made his
way through the first round at Roland Garros with a very passable
6-4, 6-3, 7-6 win over Galo Blanco and now reckons he has got the
hang of this clay court business, he is not letting anything go
to his head. After all, letting that barber get to his head a couple
of days ago was enough of a mistake.
As the sixth seed, he is expected
to do well here; as a man who has spent two seasons forcing himself
to be patiently aggressive (yes, honestly) on the red dirt, he wants
to do well here but, whatever else happens, if he can play well
enough on this frustrating surface, just think what he will be able
to do at Wimbledon. In theory it is a win-win situation. But let's
not
get excited, please.
The trouble with Tim is that
he is excited. Awfully excited. He always is.
HERALDED BY NO NOTABLE
TITLES
He is desperate to prove that he
is as good as he thinks he is. His supporters point to his world
position (up as far as No. 5 this year in the year-round rankings
and a considerable spell at No. 2 in the Champions Race, for what
that is worth) while his detractors points his titles, or lack of
them. So far in his career he has racked up nine pieces of silverware
but none of them have been particularly big or impressive. He has
never won a Masters Series title, he has never got as far as a final
in a Grand Slam but he is, he assures us all, getting better. And,
as ever, he is ready to take the next step.
Since he teamed up with Larry
Stefanki last summer, there have been signs that he is making progress
but, lurking behind that cool and calm façade, there is still
the same old Tim, the Tim who can turn a simple straight sets win
into a roller coaster ride, the Tim who can have a nation on the
edge of its seat just by tying his shoelaces.
Henman consoles himself by
looking at the statistics and rationalising his ambitions. He began
with a couple of quarter finals at Wimbledon, went on to add three
semi finals to them so now, logically, there is only the final and
the title left to conquer. In the meantime he has proved himself
on all other surfaces – even if actually winning a clay court
tournament may be asking a little too much – so he must be
ready to take that infamous next step. QED.
If only it were that simple.
His efforts in Paris may well bring reasonable results but this
event does not matter. There is no pressure on him to do well here.
Sure enough, a decent run would make good copy back home and no
one would begrudge him a few moments of glory, but it is Wimbledon
that matters. This British boy was born to win Wimbledon, after
all. Once he is there, no one knows what to do with themselves.
The Centre Court crowd applauds politely when he wins a point and
sighs gently when he loses one while Henman expresses joy with no
more than a barely clenched fist and despair with a string of quietly
muttered obscenities. Inside his heart is pounding and his stomach
churning but on the outside he is hatchet faced.
A BIT TOO "SATISIFIED"
By the time he comes into the interview
room to explain himself, he is calm and composed. He can "have
no complaints" (a favorite Henman expression that can be used
to cover a multitude of sins) and he is invariably "satisfied"
with his results.
The truth is, he is never
satisfied. He wants to be great and he wants everyone to acknowledge
that achievement. What happens here is largely irrelevant but no
one must notice that fact – all plaudits are gratefully accepted
– and if no one makes too much of a song and dance about what
is coming in the next month, so much the better. And the more the
upper lip stiffens, the more the pressure mounts. Once that cycle
starts, Henman's chances begin to evaporate which, in turn, adds
to the pressure.
Henman is the very epitome
of Britishness and, as such, should be the perfect subject for Wimbledon
immortality. But the very fact that he conforms to the national
stereotype may actually be his undoing. He had better make the most
of what Roland Garros has to offer; it can only get worse from here.
Alix
Ramsay has been covering tennis for British national newspapers
for the past 12 years. She was tennis correspondent of The Times
for three years.
|
