IT’S That Man Again. Those of a certain vintage will remember ITMA, a bulwark of radio programmes that did wonders for British morale at a time of huge strife. Tim Henman is much too young, of course, and tennis is sport, not conflict, though the way Dmitry Tursunov plays it, you could be fooled.
When Henman returned to the locker-room after a straight-sets defeat of Nicolas Mahut, of France, in the third round of the Stella Artois Championships yesterday, his heart must have skipped a beat. Tursunov was settling into a groove against Wang Yeu-Tzuoo, of Taiwan, and not much later, the blond-haired Russian, who was sent away from home at 12 to learn the sport in California — where he has remained since — was through to their quarter-final of destiny.
Henman has lost three times to Tursunov, all in grand-slam tournaments, the first of which, a year ago, in the second round of Wimbledon, killed Henmania stone dead. There will be no easing into the match today, that is if Tursunov eased into anything.
Henman’s feet moved more stickily yesterday than on the previous two days and when he failed to punish sit-up-and-beg second serves, a few worry lines might have formed. One could suggest that world No 78s should be put away more convincingly, until remembering that Henman is only two places higher than Mahut in the rankings, such has been his fall from grace.
The match should have turned conclusively in Henman’s favour midway through the second set, when he nailed every line to lead 4-2, played two of the finest destructive backhand lobs to break and serve for the match, only to hesitate over a pair of forehands and give Mahut a sneaky chance.
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Of course, Henman pulled it back together when the second serving opportunity arrived, clinching a 6-3, 6-4 victory with an ace. He’s a tease, he is.
Today will be an occasion for the straightforward, nothing fancy, staying in the moment, the best of three sets; sudden death in comparison to the best-of-five-sets encounter the pair contested in Paris two weeks ago. Carried across two days, Henman was two sets down when nightfall came and, had he taken one of nine break points in the sixth game of the fourth set, may well have taken it to a fifth. Not surprisingly, a forfeit of his subsequent service game signalled his downfall.
“Does it look like I have a strategy when I play?” Tursunov replied when asked if he might have had Henman scouted. His style will be up front and in your face, as it has been each time Henman has squeezed him into a corner. “There are certain things you want to know about your opponent, but my game is like a machinegun, if you shoot 16 bullets a minute, you will hit the target eventually. I’ve been running out of ammo towards the second set for the past couple of days,” he said.
Did Tursunov look for Henman’s name in the draw? “I’m not that mean,” he said.
Except that he is. He rarely sweats, he ignores bad shots and refocuses, he has a short, brutally efficient serve and clubs the skin off the ball. “It’s a fine line between recklessness and playing too much percentage tennis,” he said. “Certain people have to abide by percentages because their game dictates that they play like that. My game is based on hitting the ball, going for my shots.”
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Andy Roddick remained on course for his fourth successive title by edging past Paradorn Srichaphan, of Thailand, in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. Fernando González, of Chile, awaits. The upset of the day came when Ivan Ljubicic, the Croatian No 2 seed, was sent crashing out by Gael Monfils, the young Frenchman.
For three hours and a minute, Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco, put on a Spanish grass-court fest of such improbable quality that those who might have been enticed inside the clubhouse to watch a spot of England v Trinidad & Tobago in the World Cup finals were glued to their seats. Pete Sampras against Goran Ivanisevic, it was not.
Verdasco is not a Spaniard Nadal is close to, which is why the French Open champion clenched his jaw and played the final-set tie-break as if life alone depended on it.
But praise, too, for Verdasco, who found the strength of will to stay in the ring when quite easily he could have clambered through the ropes. Nadal won 2-6, 7-6, 7-6, too awesome as ever on the points that really counted. It is not often that ground-staff at Queen’s Club have to repair sods of earth on the baseline on the fourth day of play.
Today, Nadal plays Lleyton Hewitt, the three-times Stella champion, nine days after they met in the fourth round at Roland Garros. There, Nadal prevailed in four. It is worth the entrance fee.