Tennis/US Open: Grimacing with pain and frustration, Tim Henman slumped out of the US Open yesterday, once again the victim of a degenerative back problem that has troubled him all year. But he also admitted that for the first time in his career, and up until Wimbledon, he had felt burned out and lacking in motivation.
"It was a real struggle for a number of different issues," he said after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 defeat by Fernando Verdasco. "I shouldn't really have been surprised because I've been doing this for a long, long time but this was the first time since I began playing tennis that I really felt burnt out."
Henman took a prolonged rest after Wimbledon, where he was beaten in the second round, and now believes the motivation has returned.
"To be able to reflect on things and ask myself a few questions was exactly what I needed. When I started training again I felt a lot more enjoyment and a lot more purpose and direction. That had been missing."
Unfortunately his new-found zeal has coincided with stomach and back difficulties, the first arising out of the second. Henman will be 31 on Tuesday and, although he has tried to convince himself that his back is manageable, the frequency with which it is now letting him down will surely make it extremely difficult for him to remain competitive for much longer.
This defeat will drop Henman into the lower 20s in the rankings and, although he will embrace this as a challenge, as he did after surgery on his shoulder two years ago, the passing of the years will make any return to the top 10 ever more problematic. "But I want to finish strongly this year and then start afresh in Australia," he said.
It was crystal clear from the opening few games that his back, which had flared up at the weekend, was no better. Henman flexed it, raised his leg in an attempt to shift the pain and winced. "It was like being prodded with a knife."
The vestiges of hurricane Katrina have yet to reach New York but the morning was intensely humid, with ragged grey clouds threatening rain. Spots began to fall during the second set, prompting Henman to raise his eyes to the skies. But, even if the players had gone off, it would surely only have prolonged the agony.
Verdasco (21), made the crucial break at 3-3 in the opening set and, although Henman had the opportunity to break back almost immediately, there was never any conviction to his attempts and the left-handed Spaniard pressed on ruthlessly, serving with particular venom.
He never allowed Henman to make any real inroads or to convince himself that the situation could be turned around. He was two sets to one down against Croatia's Ivo Karlovic in the first round last year and turned it around but not this time.
"You live in hope but the nature of this match was quite different." Last year Henman reached the semi-finals of both the US and French Opens and in total won 16 matches at grand slam level. This year he has won only four and failed to get beyond the quarter-final of any competition. That "hope" appears to be fast fading at all levels.
Greg Rusedski, who will be 32 on Tuesday, has stuck to the tenacious belief that he could force his way back to the top and his efforts to get himself seeded for this tournament were altogether admirable. But it has made no overall difference to his results at the major championships and yesterday, for the third successive year, he was beaten in the first round here, on this occasion losing 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 to James Blake of the United States. He had his chances, with three set points in the first two sets, although Blake played beautifully.
Rusedski will now take a break before joining Andy Murray, Dave Sherwood and Alan Mackin for the Davis Cup world group qualifier against Federer's Switzerland in Geneva.
Federer began his defence of the US Open crown yesterday with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic. "The way he played today I think you can say Roger will be here for the next two weeks," said Rusedski with a grin.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for him and Henman.
