I remember several weeks ago, Joe Calzaghe was being interviewed prior to a fight. Good old Joe was asked what he thought about being considered amongst Britain's sporting elite, including Wayne Rooney, Freddie Flintoff, Tim Henman. At this point he interrupted: "I'm nothing like Tim Henman. Has he won Wimbledon? No, he's a failure. " As I sat back into my chair, pulling my hair out at this poor misguided soul's statement, I thought about the horrible fact that this is what many people in Britain actually think about Henman. I decided to let it go and move on with my thoughts. Until late last night.

After having a discussion with a good friend who is very knowledgeable about the nature of English sporting fans, I brought up the fact that they will never understand that Henman was, and still is, a great tennis player. My friend proceeded to ruin my evening by stating that he can't be a great player because he hasn't won a Slam. Whilst this was slightly better than Calzaghe's effort, I could not wait to get started on this article. One thing that must be remembered while you read this is that I am not trying to compare Henman to the likes of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. The term 'great' is objective, and I am fully aware of the fact that Henman is not in the same class as these players. I shall now present my case.

Let's start with the most basic of points. Henman has not, and most probably will not, ever win Wimbledon. Naturally, this is hugely disappointing given that he has reached the semi-finals there four times. However, when Henman was at his peak, there was one major obstacle known by the name of Sampras. It is easy to suggest that Tim would have overcome Sampras and won Wimbledon if he was a great player, and indeed many people do talk of this theory. Whilst it might have some credence, the fact remains that Sampras was a genius on grass courts. Indeed, the wonderful 1999 final in which Sampras destroyed Andre Agassi is perhaps the best evidence of this fact. Once Sampras won his record 13th slam in 2000 and was having a terrible 2001, British tennis fans (not the people sitting on 'Henman Hill' with Union Jack hats on) truly believed Henman had a chance of winning the glorious title. And that chance did indeed arrive. The semi-final against Goran Ivanesevic in 2001 will never be forgotten, and without dwelling on it too much, Henman will always consider this ‘the one that got away’.

Moving on very swiftly (the agony that I feel when remembering that he was two points away from victory at one point is returning), Federer arrived in 2002 - and the rest is history. Henman has not won Wimbledon. I would prefer not to continuously lament this fact, but because it is the most important tournament in the world. But I want to move away from Wimbledon and look at the bigger picture. And no, I am not talking about his acting ability in the Ariel adverts.

'Hold on, though,'' you say, ''Henman has not won any of the slams''. Correct. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the tennis world (not the British public who are unaware of any tournament other than Wimbledon) it is titles that define success. This is justifiable in many ways, and indeed it is a fair way to reflect on a player's career. But I want to look at the bigger picture. I am going to list the facts that in my eyes, suggest Henman to be a ‘great’ player. Again, I want to point out that I am fully aware of this word being extremely objective.

1) While I cannot find an official statistic, Henman has spent the vast majority of the last seven or so years in the world’s top 10, reaching a high of fourth in the rankings.
2) Henman has stuck to his principles and continued to play serve-volley tennis, by far the most exciting playing style. Given that men’s tennis can now be rather dull, with most of the action taking place via big serves of baseline rallies, this fact should not be underestimated.
3) Henman has won the Paris Masters (beating Andy Roddick and Federer along the way) - widely considered to be ‘the fifth Grand Slam’ (until this year, anyway). He received a standing ovation after winning because of his style of play.
4) Henman has had to cope with the hopes of a nation but has performed very well regardless. While this is not an excuse for his Wimbledon losses, it must have been very difficult to compete with that amount of pressure on his shoulders. I am not referring these hopes to any other tournament because, as I have been at pains to point out during this article, the majority of Brits do not follow tennis.
5) He has reached six Grand Slam semi-finals.
6) Henman was trained by the LTA. I don’t think this statement needs any more justification; needless to say that he is the only LTA success story. Go figure.
7) Tiger Tim (I really do detest that name) has competed against and beaten all the top players. Sampras, Federer (yes, Federer!), Agassi, Roddick, Marit Safin.
8) Henman reached the semi-finals of the French Open playing serve-and-volley tennis. As you will know, this is a feat that is truly very difficult to achieve.
9) Tim has had some serious shoulder injuries to deal with. This is the same for many tennis players, but I have kept this point to last for a reason. If he was a lesser player, he would have dropped down the rankings and never fought his way back up. This season, given that he has been very unlucky with the draws he has received, he has fought his way back to number 39 in the world rankings and that ranking might well improve with a bit of luck at the start of next season.