Henman to play on despite defeat disappointment
Tim Henman has no thoughts of quitting tennis despite failing to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time for 10 years.
“It’s very disappointing and it won’t sit comfortably with me for a period of time but you have to be able to move on,” he said afterwards.
The British number one lost 6-3 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-8 to unseeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the second round. Henman let slip a two sets to one lead and paid tribute to his big-serving opponent.
“I’ve certainly won my fair share of matches like that. Having got myself back into it, not being able to finish it off with a win is disappointing. It’s tough to take but you’ve got to give him a lot of credit.
“I didn’t think he could serve as consistently as that for so long. That was a big factor.
“When he had to serve to stay in the match, it was a great opportunity but it didn’t materialise that way. He kept his level of serving and played aggressively from the back of the court. That’s why he came out on top.”
Henman insisted today’s performance was an improvement on his patchy first-round win over Jarkko Nieminen.
“There are no comparisons with the way I played in the first round,” he said. “I knew I had to pick up my game. It was a struggle in the first round.
“When you break down the nuts and bolts of the match, it’s going to come down to the important points. Seventeen break points went begging but 15 of them I couldn’t get the ball back in play because he was hitting winners.
“As difficult as it is to accept, I’ve got to give the guy credit for that."
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