Finally he decided to quit. After a disappointing 2007 (never beyond the second round) that follows up two other miserable years, Tim Henman throws in the towel. The Davis Cup tie against Croatia next month will be his last appearance in professional tennis, he said during a press conference in New York.

It was 1995 when a typical British 21 year old guy amazed the Centre Court in Wimbledon, defeating Roland Garros champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov after saving match points, to go on ’till the quarter-finals and eventually lose only to Todd Martin. The Brits thought they had found the champion they had all been waiting for for thirty years. But Henman was about to step into tennis history only as “the man of the missed chance”, the grass-court specialist who has never won a tournament on grass, the “good, but not good enough guy”.

And four semis at the Championships were not enough to give him the chance of fighting for the title in front of his home crowd at least once in his life. Tim is still biting his nails for the chance missed against Ivanisevic in 2001, when he was two sets to one up and his opponent had completely lost his head, but regained it thanks to a rain delay.

Nevertheless Tim was able to surprise tennis fans: as in 2004, when he reached semis on French clay (he who couldn’t stand the baseline for three shots in a row…), or in 2003 when he won Bercy beating Kuerten, Roddick and Federer. Or even before, in 1995, when he (a Mr. Sportsmanship) hit a ball girl in Wimbledon and was sent-off during a doubles match…

There will still be room for Tim in tennis world, he says he is likely to start a new career in tennis after the birth of his third child: «It is a new beginning. I’d like to think there are going to be a lot new opportunities out there for me». Maybe this time he will be able to catch them.

Also watch
Tim Henman’s timeline in Wimbledon (by the BBC)