It’s always sad to see a respected sportsman bow out, but in Tim Henman’s case, I think it was about time. For years, us Brits had nobody to cheer for at tennis tournaments; and then out of nowhere, in the late nineties we had Tiger Tim.

No matter how many cute nicknames the British public and press could come up with for Tim, he never really fulfilled our expectations. Every year at Wimbledon, the press would get behind Tim and hint that perhaps this year would be his year. Each year we had to listen to reports of how Henman was at the best form of his career, but it just never happened.

There was nobody else to cheer for. Greg Rusedski was difficult to get behind because of his strong Canadian accent. So Great Britain carried on rooting for Tim. At one point, Henman was criticized for his lack of aggression during play. This led to Henman holding up his fist in front of his face and shaking it every time he won an important point. Sometimes he’d even growl, living up to the name Tiger Tim.

The British public is incredibly fond of Tim Henman, but it’s time to move on.

So long, Tiger.

Techno' tags: Tim Henman, Tennis