Henman Says the State of Men’s Tennis in Great Britain is Embarrassing, Apart from Murray.

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 11th April 2013

Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Florida

Henman Says the State of Men's Tennis in Great Britain is Embarrassing, Apart from Murray.

epa03644831 Andy Murray of Great Britain returns the ball against Richard Gasquet of France during their semifinals match at the Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2013 EPA/RHONA WISE |

As a player Tim Henman openly admitted that he took the soft option when asked difficult questions. Now six years into retirement and now an active member of the All England Club’s Board of Management, he showed old habits are forgotten by insisting that Andy Murray aside, the state of men’s tennis in Great Britain is embarrassing.

Henman, the man along Greg Rusedski who kept the standard of British tennis aloft before the emergence of Andy Murray, also insisted their Scottish successor must play regularly in the nation that boasts Wimbledon and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, is to return to the Davis Cup World Group and become anything approaching a force in the elite division.

Murray, who missed last weekend’s win over Russia in Coventry because he preferred to rest and begin his clay court preparations, has long intimated he would be available for selection in Britain’s next tie, which will be a World Group play-off in Croatia.

The fact that tie will begin just four days after the scheduled Monday men’s singles final of the US Open might well complicate matters. But Henman said: “The signs are he will probably play against Croatia so I fancy the team’s chances.”

Henman applauded the Euro/Africa Zone Group One comeback from a 2-0 deficit to beat Russia 3-2, and said: “”It would have been nice to have had a home tie on back of the win over Russia – I guess it depends a little bit on whether Andy Murray plays.

“But when you look at the Davis Cup and the big picture, those are the easy weeks playing in front of your home crowd.

“It’s about whether those other guys can produce that for the other 48 weeks of the year. They have got to do it more often and then you can talk about them improving their rankings.”

But Henman then alluded to the two players who played above themselves to (217th ranked James Ward and 324th Dan Evans) and added: “The fact we haven’t got anyone else inside the top 200 in the world is still a bit embarrassing.”

And Henman made his message clear to Evans who many believe has the natural talent to secure a place in the top 100 but, by his own admission, lets himself down by a lack of discipline and application.

Henman did not hold back when asked if 22 year-old Evans still had time to make his time on the men’s tour. “Not if he carries on with the attitude he has had,” came the answer.

“There are far better players than him in the world. But he has to maximize his potential.

“What is his potential? I don’t know, he doesn’t know. He has to find that out and the only way he can do that is if he commits, he works and gives 100% to his job.”