Henman humbled

Grosjean shatters British hopes, reaches semifinals

Henman vows to return LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) -- A dejected Tim Henman admitted time was running out for him to win Wimbledon after his latest failure on Thursday. The 28-year-old Briton's four-set quarterfinal defeat by Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean was the seventh time in eight years he has lost in either quarter or semifinals at the All England Club. "Maybe, I think perhaps my chances are getting less. But that won't stop me coming back and trying," said Henman, whose annual bid to end his country's 67-year wait for a Wimbledon men's champion has become a national obsession. "I wouldn't say they [my chances] are diminishing greatly. It's inevitable as the standards are getting better, I have to find ways to keep improving. "That's not going to stop me coming back. This is the one tournament I desperately want to win. In the bigger picture, in my career, I've still got another four or five years. "You've got to have belief. If you don't believe in yourself, you've got no shot. At moments like this, it's difficult to accept but it doesn't detract from my belief that I can go away and improve." FULL STORY

LONDON (Reuters) -- Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean shattered Tim Henman's Wimbledon dream for another year on Thursday when he completed a 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over the Briton on Centre Court.

Two sets to one up overnight, the 13th seed wrapped up a deserved win with some scintillating shots to deflate an expectant Centre Court crowd.

Henman, seeded 10th, had been hoping to reach his fifth Wimbledon semifinal in six years but the host nation's hopes of a first men's champion since 1936 were left in tatters by some sublime shot-making from Grosjean.

The 25-year-old Frenchman will play his first Wimbledon semifinal against Australian Mark Philippoussis.

"It is never easy to come back the day after," said a beaming Grosjean, who sealed victory on serve when Henman tamely netted a backhand return.

"Especially against Tim here at Wimbledon. I started pretty well, Tim missed a few shots and that helped me to finish the match.

"I'm pretty happy today. I'm pretty proud to get to the semifinal."

Grosjean is only the third player from France to reach the semifinals of the men's singles at Wimbledon since the game turned professional in 1968. Henri Leconte reached the last four in 1986, as did Cedric Pioline in 1997.

The 2001 Australian Open and French Open semifinalist merited his overnight lead, having managed to impose his superior all-court game on Henman's more rudimentary serve-volley approach.

"I would say that his standard of play over the whole course of the match was much better than mine," said Henman. "I didn't match up well, and that is disappointing."

Grosjean's wonderful court coverage and imagination on his shot selection left the Englishman looking pedestrian from the re-start on Thursday.

An exquisite backhand cross-court winner gave the impish Frenchman his decisive break in the fourth set at 3-3.

He had beaten Henman at the pre-Wimbledon Stella Artois Championships, where he went on to lose in the final against American Andy Roddick, who is also through to the Wimbledon semifinals.

Henman knocked out Grosjean at the third round stage at the All England Club in 1999, but there was never much likelihood of a repeat under sullen skies in southwest London.

He was left to plot next year's bid to become the first British man to reach the men's singles final since Henry "Bunny" Austin in 1938, two years after Fred Perry became the last Briton to lift the title.

"This is the one tournament that I desperately want to win, and I've got to see if I can do that," Henman said.

 

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