Wimbledon is the quintessential British sporting event of the year — a flurry of pinstripe suits and pristine whites. The understated yet unequivocal zenith of tennis’s increasingly relentless calendar. Few embody the spirit of SW19 quite like four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist and former British No1 Tim Henman.
A consummate professional turned convivial broadcaster, it is his surname that adorns the hill that overlooks Centre Court. While glory eluded him at the home of British tennis, he is firmly a part of the furniture. All quiet stoicism and crisp tailoring, he broods over a chastening start to British hopes at this year’s tournament. His opinion holds weight at a time when tennis broadcasting is facing a crisis of confidence.
A record 10 British players exited Wimbledon inside the first 10 hours on the opening day, while Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu both withdrew from their first-round games through injury.
But Henman, who is working for the 18th year as a BBC commentator at Wimbledon, says there is cause for optimism.
“There is no doubt that it was a disappointing day,” Henman exclusively tells Standard Sport.
“But in actual fact, the reality is that British tennis is in a way better position than it was 10 or 15 years ago. In terms of that strength in depth from (the top) 250, we’ve got way more players, and we’ve got some exciting players to come through. On the women’s side, you’ve got Mika Stojsavljevic (17 years old), you’ve got Hannah Klugman (17), and Mimi Xu (18). They are outstanding prospects.
“Likewise, on the men’s side, you’ve got a really good cohort of players who’ve moved up the rankings inside the top 250.
“You had Ollie Tarvet qualify, Max Basing qualify. You’ve got Toby Samuel, Jack Pinnington Jones. Billy Harris also came through qualifying.”
Jack Draper really can challenge the best players in the world
Tim Henman
Henman says it was no real surprise to see so many British hopefuls exit the tournament early, given that the vast majority were considered underdogs — Stojsavljevic, Klugman and Xu, for example, only made their senior grand slam debuts at Wimbledon last summer.
When it comes to Draper and Raducanu, though, he can’t hide his disappointment. Injuries continue to hamper the pair, and Henman admits it is frustrating to see their bodies letting them down time and again.
“Your ranking doesn’t lie. This time last year, Jack was top five in the world,” Henman continues. “With his game style, because he’s a lefty, he’s very physical, he’s a great athlete, he’s got a huge serve, massive forehand. He really can challenge the best players in the world.
“When he won Indian Wells [in 2025], he beat [Carlos] Alcaraz. So that is what adds to the frustration. We know the ability and the level is there. But unfortunately, his body is letting him down.”
Jack and Emma’s injury woes
Speaking as part of the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon on Monday, Henman said Raducanu would need to dig deep to find the mental resilience to bounce back from her latest setback.
The 23-year-old made history when she became the first qualifier and youngest British player to win a Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2021. But injuries, coaching turnover and off-court issues have meant she has failed to get close to emulating her breakthrough success at Flushing Meadows.
“It is exactly what I’m talking about with Jack, but also Emma as well. If you just go back and look at her results and, how stop-start it is, there are very few periods of her career in the last five years where she’s played, five, six, seven months without any of these injury setbacks. And that’s got to be a big frustration. She hasn’t been able to build that physical resilience.”
Henman’s 14-year career, in which he peaked at world No4 in 2002, was never blighted by injuries in the same way as Raducanu’s or Draper’s — he broke a streak of 30 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played when he missed the Australian Open with a shoulder injury in 2003.
But in reaching the semi-finals in four out of five years at Wimbledon between 1998 and 2002, as well as semi-final appearances at the US Open and French Open in 2004, he developed a distinctly British reputation as a nearly man in an era dominated by seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras and, later, the darling of the All-English club, Roger Federer.
Henman and Sampras, famous for their serve and volley battles, met in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1998, with Sampras hailing Henman as being “on the point of being a truly great player” after overcoming the Brit 3-6 6-4 5-7 3-6 in a thrilling four-set clash.
A tough era to win
Henman never did scale the summit to become a Wimbledon champion, but he also does not have any regrets about a career in which he won 15 ATP Tour titles.
“I think I was good enough to win a Grand Slam title. But there were other players who were better than me. Sampras and (Lleyton) Hewitt, and Federer were better than me, and they beat me at those stages. But you look back at my generation, was I a better player than Thomas Hansen? Yeah, I think I was. He won the Australian Open.
“Was I a better player than Gastón Gaudio? I think I was, but he won the French Open. So you need a few things to go your way. But I think then, when I look back, and you try and quantify what success was, I think success is about maximising your potential, and there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I did that.”
Henman, who admits he would rather avoid the crowds than watch a game on Henman Hill, started playing tennis at the age of three, encouraged by his dress designer mother and former Junior Wimbledon competitor Jane. He fell in love with the sport as a six-year-old after watching Bjorn Borg play at Wimbledon in 1981.
“It’s the pinnacle in tennis, there’s no doubt. It’s the biggest, the best, most prestigious tournament in the world. I was lucky to come here the first time with my mum when I was six, and I’ve been every year since then.”
Tennis has been his life’s work. But Golf now fills much of Henman’s time, and he admits he only plays tennis twice a year, even turning up in a suit for this interview so as to avoid having a go at testing his skills against some of the fastest serves in the game.
“I think this 5G+ serve is a lot more consistent than my serve, and it’s probably a lot faster,” he jokes when asked if he has tried his luck against Vodafone’s 5G+ Serve Experience.
“They said they hit 153 the other day. So that’s pretty rapid.”
Tim Henman joined Vodafone, Official Connectivity Partner of The Championships, Wimbledon, on day two of the tournament to try out its 5G+ Serve experience. Powered by Vodafone’s 5G+, it recreates live serves from Centre Court, bringing fans closer to the action. Click here for more.
