Interview: Tim Henman

HENMAN v RUSEDSKI 31------------Age-------------32 British--------Nat---------British 0------------Slams-------------0 11-------Career titles-------15 $11.3m---Earnings------$8.9m 9-------Head-to-head--------2 5--------(Hardcourt)----------0

The latest and possibly final instalment of a great British rivalry will take place in New York on Wednesday.

The draw for the first round of the US Open has thrown together Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski for the 12th meeting of their careers.

Their paths have been inextricably linked since they both came onto the professional tennis scene in the mid-1990s - Henman from leafy Oxfordshire and Rusedski via Canada.

Henman has always been the higher-profile player, having reached six Grand Slam semi-finals and spent most of his career ranked above Rusedski.

The fact that Henman regularly made the latter stages at Wimbledon, causing an annual outbreak of Henmania, cemented his place in the nation's sporting landscape.

That he was born and brought up in the UK might also have helped.

Rusedski, on the other hand, has never been at his best on Wimbledon's grass, making just one quarter-final and showing his irritable side as often as his winning tennis in SW19.

His best moments have come away from these shores, most notably at the US Open itself where he reached the final in 1997 before losing to Pat Rafter.

And it is often forgotten that Rusedski has won four more titles in his career than Henman.

HEAD-TO-HEAD 2005: Hamburg, clay Henman 7-6 6-4 2005: Dubai, hard Henman 4-6 7-6 6-4 2002: Australian Open, hard Henman 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-3 2002: Adelaide, hard Henman 6-4 6-4 2001: Adelaide, hard Henman 6-2 7-6 1999: Indian Wells, hard Henman 6-4 2-6 6-4 1998: Hanover, concrete Rusedski 6-2 6-4 1997: Vienna, carpet Rusedski 6-4 6-4 1996: Ostrava, carpet Henman 7-6 7-5 1996: Telford, carpet Henman 1-6 6-3 6-2 1995: Telford, carpet Henman 6-7 7-6 6-4

Neither player has been in exactly scintillating form of late, with Rusedski in particular struggling in a run of eight defeats in nine matches.

An overwhelming lead in their head-to-head record and Rusedski's on-going battle with a hip injury mean the odds are heavily stacked in Henman's favour.

Roger Federer is scheduled to be waiting in round two, so whichever Briton comes through the first round is unlikely to progress any further at Flushing Meadows.

That means victory in the opening encounter is likely to be their only chance to grab the headlines at this year's event.

Rusedski has plummeted out of the world's top 100 and if his poor run of form continues, he will have to play qualifying for future Grand Slams, a state of affairs that will surely hasten the retirement of the former world number four.

Henman, who has also been as high as four in the world, has slipped down the rankings too and recurrent back problems suggest the end of his career will also come sooner not later.

So the New York date will almost certainly be their last Grand Slam clash and could also be the last meeting of their professional careers.

The inexorable rise of Andy Murray means that neither Henman nor Rusedski can claim victory gives him bragging rights as Britain's best player.