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| | Thursday, 4 July, 2002, 15:36 GMT 16:36 UK Nervy Henman reaches semis Henman had to dig deep for victory Tim Henman set up a Wimbledon final against world number one Lleyton Hewitt by beating Andre Sa in four sets, 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-3. But the fourth seed, who will be playing his fourth semi-final in five years, afterwards conceded that he will need to improve on Thursday's performance if he is to reach the final for the first time. The British number one often struggled against a man ranked 90 in the world and playing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final on his least favourite surface.
"I'm going to have to play better (against Hewitt). It's not going to be an average performance that will beat him," admitted Henman afterwards. Henman put an increasingly agitated partisan crowd through the mill again on Thursday, despite arriving on Centre Court with a one-set advantage already in his favour. He squandered two set points in the second set before dropping serve to hand Sa the chance to level the match. The Brazilian held his nerve to clinch the set and as Henman's tennis continued to deteriorate, the British number one wore an anxious look and repeatedly chastised himself. The usually reserved Briton stalked around the baseline, muttering to himself, as Sa frustrated the fourth seed's plans of an early finish and a 24-hour rest before Friday's semi-finals. The Brazilian immediately went a break up in the third set but then Henman seemed to settle at last and broke back before clinching the set with another break at 5-4. By now, Henman was making fewer unforced errors and looking more aggressive and he moved to 2-0 in the fourth set before he served out the match.
But the manner of Henman's four-set win prompted more of a sigh of relief from an anxious crowd than the usual roar of approval. Henman's reaction, too, was subdued, grimly clenching his fist towards the players' box. The fourth seed admitted that frustration had set in as he struggled to quell the Brazilian's challenge. "I felt like I was the better player in the second set and I had my chances to take it," he said. "But things change very quickly and that's when nerves creep into the crowd." And Henman hit back at critics of his on-court demeanour as he jokingly apologised for his show of emotion at the beginning of the third set. "There was an element of frustration - apologies if I'm showing too much emotion on court," he said. "I was desperately keen to stamp my authority on the match in the third set and I wasn't able to do that. It was certainly a good feeling when I won that third set. "I haven't played my best tennis - but if I can keep winning that's the most important thing." And despite his poor display, Henman can at least find some comfort in the fact that his opponent on Friday is still out on court embroiled in a five-set thriller. | |
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