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 'Henmania' hits fever pitch Henman rides wave of support into Wimbledon quarterfinals
Posted: Monday June 29, 1998 05:40 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Briton Tim Henman rode a wave of nationalistic fervor on Monday to beat sixth seed Pat Rafter and book his third consecutive quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon. Spurred on by enthusiastic hometown support Henman, the 12th seed, raised his fists in triumph and the crowd rose as one, as much with relief as pleasure, when Rafter pushed a volley wide to hand the Briton the match 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. "To walk out there on court when it was as full as that gives you a buzz," said Henman. "I think I've shown again that I do respond to that." The term "Henmania" was coined in 1996 when the Oxford-born player brought the nation to a standstill by reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals, the first British man since Roger Taylor in 1973. His rise then, which he mirrored last year, prompted speculation in the British media of the coming of a long-awaited homegrown champion. The last British man to win the Wimbledon men's singles title was Fred Perry 62 years ago. Henman, 23, said he was relieved his match did not clash with England's second-round World Cup soccer match against Argentina in France on Tuesday. Two of his previous matches have taken place at the same time as England's fixtures, distracting both himself and his band of loyal supporters. "I'll have the opportunity of watching the whole 90 minutes and I look forward to that," Henman said. Rafter, who rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 last year, was forced to call on the trainer early in the fourth set after hurting his lower back. The Australian was clearly distressed and rarely followed his serve into the net from that point. In a match that promised to be a classic serve-and-volley duel, Henman surprisingly laid the foundations for his victory from the baseline. Rafter, the U.S. Open champion, knows only one place to stand on the court, at the net. Unperturbed, Henman left the Australian shaking his head in disbelief as he whipped morale-destroying passing shots down both the backhand and forehand wings of the court. "Against a guy like Pat who's attacking at every opportunity, the game plan is a little bit decided for you. So you can play with your instincts," Henman said. Henman came out firing, landing a high percentage of his first serves to take control of the first set, whereas Rafter's weaker service game gave the Briton the chance to apply the pressure. The world No. 18 broke Rafter in the eighth game and then held serve to take the set and appeared headed for two-set lead when serving with a 5-4 lead. Henman faltered, losing the set in a tiebreak, but then urged on by the Union Jack-waving crowd, broke Rafter's opening service games in the next two sets to seal the victory in just over 2 1/2 hours.
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