The Other Tiger

Wimbledon aka The Tennis World Championships, is well under way at the moment. Actually the tournament is well under way, the actual matches are being rained off to a slightly ridiculous level at the moment.

Nevertheless, Federer, Nadal and Roddick eased their way through the first round matchups without too much trouble. But the real story was Tim Henman's four hour five set marathon victory over Carlos Moya. Henman had won an incredible two matches this year on the international circuit and was looking every part the washed up old pro in a world of young robots.

The pundits never gave him a chance against Moya (and neither did I) but we may have forgotten that this is Henman's House. He may never have won Wimbledon but he's still a hero to the British fans who cheered him louder then ever before. And, for once, he responded to them. I've never seen Henman so fired up as he was against Moya. It was pretty exciting to watch this former number six in the world playing so damned determined and aggressively, he refused to let the British crowd down by busting
out in the first round.

There was a film a couple of years ago with Kirstin Dunst, where this old English Tennis Ace goes on the streak of his career and wins the whole thing. Watching Henman yesterday you almost believed he could do the same. Almost.

The truth is Henamn is almost certain to go out in the next round, but in my mind, he's done enough. He came in and entertained the fans one more time, gave them a victory they didn't expect and left them with a smile on his face. Win or lose the next game, he's done a great job.

[SI.com]