Henman trudges off court

Former British number one John Lloyd is convinced it was the weather that halted Henman's charge to the final.

"I believe he would have closed out the match when rain stopped play," the BBC Sport Online pundit said.

"He will be shattered now, but he has to re-group. He almost did it this year and he can come back and do it next year.

"It will take him a few days to get over it, but he has got to believe that his day will come.

"Tim is still young and he has got three or four very good years to have a go at this tournament.

"I think he can come back stronger and still win Wimbledon," Lloyd told BBC TV viewers.

"It was an almost impossible situation, you could have flipped a coin to see who won.

"He did not choke, that is absolute nonsense - unfortunately our lovely weather hurt our player."

And former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash echoed Lloyd's sentiments.

"It is just one of those things," Cash said.

"He played well and did not choke, he gave it his best shot. What else can you ask for?"

'Stay positive'

Martina Navratilova, one of the true Wimbledon legends, also had words of encouragement for the losing semi-finalist.

"Tim has to look on the positive side," she said. "Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi are not going to go on forever and Tim has three, four or five great years ahead.

"This must have been the most pressure-packed match ever. It was played over three days and the quality from both of them was amazing.

"Had it been played out on Friday Tim would have won, no doubt. As it was it was the toss of a coin.

"Both guys showed amazing mental strength out there."

But Navratilova is backing Henman to succeed eventually.

"I do think Tim can win it in the future. I think he can be a bit more explosive and work on his fitness a little the way Lleyton Hewitt has.

"He can win Wimbledon."