Most inspirational player/athlete (past or present)?
Bjorn Borg. He was the first person I saw play at Wimbledon when I was about 5. I went to watch him play in 1980 when he was defending the title for the 4th time.

When did you first become interested / show an interest in tennis?
I Started playing when I was 2 and half and by about 5, I knew I wanted to be a pro tennis player. I played all sports when I was really young. We were lucky enough to have a court at home, but I also had 2 older brothers that played sports - football, rugby, cricket, hockey, squash, as well as tennis - from a very young age. I always enjoyed tennis the most and was best at it.

Do you think you benefited in learning from your older brothers?
Yes, I think that's where I get my competitive instinct from. My dad was always very competitive but I think in being 4/5 years younger than my two brothers I had to be competitive to keep up with them. I competed in all sports until I was about 11 or 12. I played football, rugby, cricket and hockey when I was in school then I began to focus my attention on tennis at 11, when I went to David Lloyd's tennis school. It was then that I left my school in Oxford and went to school in London to play more tennis.

Would you say you had exceptional hand eye co-ordination when you were young?
I think I was pretty well-rounded, but with regard to my tennis, I was probably the no.1 or 2 in Great Britain at 11 or 12. Then I was sort of a late developer physically and struggled at 15, 16, 17. I was much smaller than the other players, and then as I grew my game, I caught up overtook the rest of those people.

Most thrilling moment in sports:
I suppose in my career, I think winning my first title was definitely very special. I won in Sydney. I arrived on Tuesday morning then played well and made the final. I went into the tournament with very limited expectations and just went out and played and got better and better as the week went on. I ended up beating Moya 3 and 1 in the finals. That was 1997. Definitely some of my wins at Wimbledon - like beating Kafelnikov - have been exciting, just for the atmosphere. I beat him 7-5 in the 5th set on the middle Sunday, which was only the second time that I ever played on that day and the crowd was absolutely incredible. I suppose for the spectators, the atmosphere was like some of the Ryder Cup matches in golf.

What is the biggest challenge you have overcome in tennis? When I was growing up, there wasn't anyone to look up to in this country and that was a motivating factor. I've had several serious injuries at different times. When I was about 12, I had a problem with my elbow and I didn't play at all for 6 months. I didn't play a tourna-ment for about 2 years and then in September 1994 I broke my ankle in three places. I was playing a quarter-final challenger match against Chris Wilkinson in Singapore. At that point, I had never had any problems with my ankles, but all of a sudden I leaned back and pushed off to go to the net and it happened. That injury kept me out for about 5 months and then I had surgery on my elbow two and half years ago just before the French 97. But luckily, apart from those 3 injuries, I've stayed relatively injury free.

What was your most important victory?
I think one that I look back on that was a big turning point was when I beat Kafelnikov at Wimbledon. That was a first round match and it was the first time I had played on Centre Court at Wimbledon. He was the reigning French Open Champion and I saved 2 match points to win. That was a big turning point, a match that I look back on with a lot of fond memories. I was beginning to establish myself as a good player, I was probably ranked 60-70 in the world but beating a top 5 player on that stage, in the biggest tournament at home, sort of set the tone for my performance at Wimbledon. Since then, I've had a lot of good matches and good memories on that court. So that's definitely my favorite place to play tennis.

What special steps do you take to mentally prepare for a big match?
I am one of the more relaxed types. I don't have too many superstitions. I make sure I am up a minimum of 3 hours before my match, try to get a good breakfast, make sure I've had enough water before I go on to the court. I don't normally hit for particularly long before the match and then just beforehand in the locker room, I like to make sure I've got all my rackets ready, strung at the right tension, grips alright, got my stencils on. That's about it really. I don't think of the outcome too much. I tend to be more concerned with my performance - the way I'm going to play - and if I feel like I'm good enough to go out and play the tennis the way I'm capable of playing, then everything else will take care of itself.

How do you cope with defeat? In a way that's the beauty of the sport and that's something that I've enjoyed most. I really enjoy the individuality of the game. It is an individual sport, and if I win or I lose no one else takes the credit or the blame. People ask what's the best thing about your job, and I say winning. And they say what's the worst bit about your job, and I say losing. So it is, I'm competitive and that's definitely what I enjoy.

What (thus far) has been the defining point in your career?
I think it's several different incidents at different times. When I picked up my first ever ranking points, it was in a satellite in Morocco. That sort of got me on the board - on the bottom rung. Also, I think to when I played the Indian satellite at the beginning of '95. I'd never won an individual leg of the satellite and I won the first 3 weeks and then made the semis of the masters, so that was a big help with my ranking. Then later on that year, I qualified for my first tour event in Tokyo and then made the third round and lost to Sampras. Those were sort of key moments. And then I made a big push when I was about 150 or something, a big push at the end of 95 to try and get into the Australian Open. I won the singles and doubles national championship and then flew to Beijing where I made the semis of the challenger there, and then I won the singles and made the final in doubles in Reunion Island which got me just inside the top 100.

What other sports are you interested in / good at?
I still play a lot of golf. I don't have an official handicap but it's probably about 4. There are times when I travel with clubs because there are other guys that play when we are abroad. We have a team that plays soccer in the UK and it's made up of the other tennis players and some of the coaches and we play against the other teams, some are newspapers, we play against the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, we play against the team from Adidas and some other teams. I enjoy watching, all the premier league soccer. If I was going to say that I support one team it would be Oxford United.

Do you have any special training techniques?
Not really. I work hard, and it's as simple as that.

Do you have any special rituals/habits before, during or after a match?
Not really. I felt there are different times when I had to work on different aspects and at the moment I'm working very hard on my fitness to become stronger.

Why do you love tennis?
I love hitting tennis balls, I really enjoy being out there. I suppose it's the feeling of the ball on the strings, but from a competitor's point of view I enjoy competing in a game that I'm good at. I really enjoy it even when I lose. I think it probably makes you more and more determined to get better so the losing will happen less.

Favourites

Band:
I'm not a huge music fan. But I'm listening to it more and more. I listen to it on trains, but I won't say that Im a huge fan. I like Robbie Williams, U2, Counting Crows, I think those are some of the people I like listening to. I normally travel with a CD player and quite a few CDs.

Movie (current):
I have been watching more and more movies. I really liked Saving Private Ryan, that's a pretty amazing film. I watched a Bond movie - The World Is Not Enough - that was quite good.

Movie (all time):
I thought Shawshank Redemption was great. But I wouldn't call myself a movie buff.

Do you watch TV at home?
Yes, I watch sports on TV. I wouldn't say I'm in front of the TV all day, but I really enjoyed watching all the premier leagues or live games.

Do you enjoy reading? I read magazines.

Foods:
There aren't too many foods I don't eat. In the last year to 18 months, I've had Japanese food a lot. I eat sushi quite often when I'm away. I still like Italian food, French food. I probably eat Japanese food more when I'm away because when I'm at home I'm quite happy just to stay home instead of eating out the whole time.

Do you eat a particular meal before matches?
I used to eat more pasta-type food but I found out more recently that slow release energy food is good, so I started to eat more protein and I'd say that I'm eating now probably 60% protein 40% carbohydrate. I think that helps.

Cars (old & new):
I've got a Mercedes C43, my wife has got a SLK and I've also got a Porsche. So I think 3 is enough. I would say (and I think other people would say) that I'm much better at spending money on other people than myself. I don't know, I wouldn't say that I'm a very materialistic person. Money doesn't motivate me in any way whatsoever. It's much easier to say that once you've earned more and more money, but it's definitely never been a motivating factor. Money is not the reason why I play tennis, but I think every once in a while it's nice to be able to reward yourself.

Do you know for instance at any one time how much money you've made?
No, not really. It doesn't really interest me. We are fortunate that the demand in the UK for tennis players is very high, so I've probably made a lot more money off the court than I have on it, that's for sure.

How do you keep yourself grounded?
I think there are some people that sort of get a bit too big for their boots. But I think that the people you surround yourself with is a key factor, as I've had the same coach for 7 and a half years. My family has always supported me, and they just let me get on with it. I'm sure my family, my coach, and now my wife, would let me know if I was getting too big for my boots.

Outside Interests

Charity:
I support mostly cancer related charities and that's something that's close to my heart. Unfortunately, some of my relatives died from cancer and also Lucy's (wife) father is one of the top cancer surgeons in the UK. Specifically, I work with Macmillan Nurses, I work quite closely with that and I donate money. They are a foundation that provides support for people suffering from cancer.

Travel:
what are your favorite tennis destinations?
I don't have a problem with the travelling I think it's something that I've gotten used to. Likewise it gets much better when you are travelling at the front of the plane rather than the back of the plane and that's where I'm lucky enough now that I can do that. I enjoy the tournaments, those that are in some of the big cities. I've really enjoyed going to Melbourne, it's at a great time of the year to get away from London in January because of the weather. Paris is a great city and New York. But my favorite place is London.

Do you have a favorite non-tennis destination?
I've had a couple of great holidays in Italy but on our honeymoon we went on safari in South Africa, and that was incredible. I've never done that before and if any-body hasn't done it, I'd recommend it. We went to a place called Sengita. It's incredible.

Fashion (special designers/types of clothing)?
It's quite fun to put on a dinner jacket or suit when you're always used to wearing track suites and t-shirts.

Do you play any musical instruments?
No, musical instruments and computers no-idea whatsoever.

Would you ever go to a karaoke bar?
I would, but I think I would have drunk a lot of liquor to get up on stage.

Do you have any pets (type / name / age)?
No, but we have a cat in my family. Lucy my wife always had dogs. I'm sure at some stage we will have some.

Hobbies (collecting, etc?
Sports, definitely golf. I'm pretty into wine actually. For our wedding list we had the regular list full of china and kitchenware, but we also had a wine list as well. So we got a lot of different types of wine. If we were to have a favorite drink, it'd probably be champagne. Now we are into red and white wine. We began with white wine but now got more into red recently but I'm not drinking during tournaments - only when I'm training. Got to make up for it when I've got a couple of weeks off!

Do you have a laptop computer?
Just got one. Lucy needed it for her work but I have absolutely no idea how to work it. That's one of my new year's resolutions - learn how to use the computer.

Family ackground

How many brothers / sisters?
Michael is 30. Richard was 29 on our wedding day.

What are their careers / special interests?
Michael is a lawyer/solicitor and Richard is an artist/painter.

They are all high achievers, does that comeback to your parents?
I suppose we've been lucky, my parents have always been very supportive of whatever we wanted to do. If you go back twenty years, and were to ask us what we were going to be. Mike the oldest would have said he's going to be a lawyer, following my dad's footsteps, Rich would have said that he's going to be an artist and I would have said I'm going to be a tennis player, so it's quite strange that we were going into those fields.

How many nephews & nieces?
Yes, I've got loads. I've got an uncle who's remarried and he's got 7 children now and the other uncle's remarried and he's got 5. And on the other side of the family, I've got 2 cousins of similar age and then in the other family a daughter. So I've got quite a lot of cousins

What do/did your parents do?
My dad (Anthony) is a lawyer, my mom (Jane) is a designer. She designs ladies tennis wear but it's for the older generation.

Any family members with prominent sports back-ground?
My mom's side - my grandfather played at Wimbledon and also my mom's mom and my grandmother. My grandma played Federation Cup. My great grandmoth-er was the first lady to serve overarm at Wimbledon and my grandmother was the last lady to serve under-arm at Wimbledon. So a bit of history there.

Good / interesting family sports history stories?
Not really, my dad played quite a lot of sports, bit of an all-arounder.

Personal

Who is the most inspirational person in your life?
Not one in particular. I suppose my parents who started me off, David Lloyd had a big part to play from probably 10 until 1617, and then I suppose David Felgate. Those are all the people who have influenced me throughout my career.

When you got used to keeping company of playing with people like Edberg at Queen's, what is it like being in that sort of sphere? Does success breed success?
To a certain extent, he's someone I've looked up to who is another inspiration. I think I play a similar type of game to the way he used to play and I used to love watching him. He lives in London and so I practice with him at Queen's when I was 16 and he's definitely helped, I definitely learned a lot from him, and I still practice with him now. So, it's great to practice with someone like that. You can only learn from him.

If you weren't a tennis player, what would you be?
I definitely wouldn't have an office job. That's for sure. I think I'll probably be involved in sport somehow.

How do you deal with popularity?
The first time it happens is definitely a bit of a shock to the system but it's not something that I have a problem with and when I'm off the court I think it's important that you sort of enjoy the support that you have and likewise when you are on the court you don't want to let that expectation drag you down, you want to make sure that you just concentrate on what you are doing and at the end of the day if you win your matches and everything else takes care of itself. You also got to remember that expectation or being in the spotlight whether you like it or not there is nothing that you can do about it. I think it's best you don't worry about it and get on with what you are trying to do, trying to achieve.

Do you feel like you are public property?
Yeah, definitely, there are times when you feel like there's a lot of people looking at you, and you are in a situation where you are sort of a gold fish in a bowl. Likewise, I think that with regards to my situation at home, I have such incredible support and people are always trying to help me do better. I definitely don't have any complaints.

Outside of a big win, what is your 'Ideal Day'?
I'd probably sleep quite late, hopefully in a warm climate. A round of golf on a top course with a few friends and probably then dinner with a group at a top restaurant with some good wine, good food.

Apart from the tennis - what do you like most about being a tennis player?
It kind of goes back to winning and losing, winning is definitely the best, but it's important that you keep
things in perspective and realize that you know how lucky and how fortunate you are. Tennis is my hobby, so you've got to remember that I'm lucky I don't have a real job. It is a tough job, don't get me wrong, with the amount we have to practice and the amount we have to travel, how tough the competition is, yes, it's not easy, I mean if it was easy everybody would be doing it. But if I can look back at the end of my career and say I gave it 100%, then I can't have too many complaints.

What do you plan to do after tennis?
Not too many ideas. I can't imagine that I would sort of go into coaching. I think with the amount that I travel and being away I think I would like to spend some more time at home. Tennis is a short career, you've got a short career span, so it's very much make the most of what's happening at the moment, take the opportunities that I've got and when I'm finished, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll then decide what I want to do next. So hopefully I should have a few options, few opportunities.

How would you describe your personality?
I would say, hyperactive is one trait but hopefully someone that other people enjoy being around, maybe generous. I don't know, you'll have to ask other people about that.

Would you say you are a shy person?
I wouldn't say I'm shy, I think I'm fairly self confident but I'm definitely not the type of person that goes out seeking attention. I would much rather just get on with what I'm doing and have my group of friends around rather than being in a public place and be seen around and about.

Weblinks:

To find out more about Tim Henman and for all the latest news on his progress this year, visit his player profile page on the Official ATP Tennis website: http://www.atptennis.com/en/players/playerprofiles/default2.asp?playersearch=Tim+Henman