Happy Henman, Macho Nadal

Fans of the Brit Tim Henman rejoiced yesterday as he completed a convincing 6-2,6-4 rout of American Taylor Dent at the Madrid Masters. This match was described as "clinical," with Henman taking the net in both serve and return games, making excellent returns off the booming Dent serve, and moving the heavyset serve-and-volleying American around. I really wish I had seen this match, as I was hoping to see Tim playing in good form again.

Troubled by an ailing back, Henman's year has been up-and-down. In the latter half of the year, it's been mostly down. After a third-round exit to 12th-ranked Nikolay Davydenko at the Australian Open in January, Tim made the quarterfinals of Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells, and Miami from February to March. Even if he didn’t make the Indian Wells final as he did in 2004, at least he was posting consistent results. However, Henman would not repeat his semifinal success at Roland Garros, exiting in the the second round.

He bounced back at Queen's Club in London, where he reached the quarterfinal and seemed to be promising another stellar performance at Wimbledon. Quarterfinalist last year, could this be his year? Two five-set matches later, that question was answered as Dimitry Tursunov disposed of Tim in the second round. As Andrew Murray made one round more than Tim, Henman Hill was hastily turned into Murray Mount instead.

Succeeding tournaments in the latter part of the year failed to see Tim get past the second round; he fell in straight sets in the first round at the 2005 US Open.

With four players already qualified for the Masters Cup (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Marat Safin, and Andy Roddick), there are only four other spots remaining. After finishing at #6 last year, Tim will not be able to qualify for the 2005 Cup; his entry ranking right now is #26 and his race ranking is at #33. Even making both Madrid and Paris finals won't propel him into the top eight. Some news articles even had Tim pegged for retirement after this year if his form doesn't improve.

Still, hope springs eternal in a Henmaniac's heart. Tim will face Radek Stepanek in the second round; in another match of serve-and-volleyers, here's to hoping Henman takes the net first and takes the win.

***

Even though an MRI has shown severe tendinitis in one of his knees, Rafael Nadal has said he plans to continue playing in the singles draw at Madrid. The tournament has been riddled with injury withdrawals from top players Roger Federer (foot injury), Lleyton Hewitt (groin injury and toe surgery), Marat Safin (knee injury), and Andre Agassi (back injury). This means Nadal is seeded #1 this week and Andy Roddick is seeded #2 for the first time since Wimbledon.

Nadal has been determined to uphold his tournament commitments this year; among the top ten players, he is second only to Nikolay Davydenko in number of tournaments played (24 to Kolya's 29). That's five more tournaments than world #1 Federer has played, and four more than nearest ranking rival Roddick.

Though Nadal is only 19, it is not suprising for his schedule to have taken its toll on his body. One can only hope that Nadal's sponsor-pleasing decision to play on does not cost him the rest of the year.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 4:36 PM