As the dust settles on Tim Henman’s final Grand Slam appearance, eyes have inevitably turned towards the Great Britain v. Croatia Davis Cup tie at Wimbledon in late September.
 
The papers are preparing their final eulogies and TV stations will be editing their highlights of Henman’s career as the 33-year-old from Oxford puts his rackets away for the last time.

While the Davis Cup tie will be an emotional event for Henman and his fans at Wimbledon, it is likely to be quite a different affair to when Greg Rusedski played the final match of his career for Great Britain against the Netherlands in April.

Although he received appreciative applause from the fans in the NEC Arena in Birmingham, there was a noticeable lack of affection, which typified the relationship throughout his career. But while this may well be to do with the fact that Rusedski is not British enough for UK tennis fans (a ridiculous premise seeing as the British identity has never been as obsolete as it currently is), it is interesting to look at his dedication to the game in this country. He may have done more for British tennis than Henman, so why won’t he be as fondly remembered?

''Rusedski, a brash player with a Canadian accent, could never displace Henman as No.1 in the hearts of British tennis fans and this is why the ridiculous hill at Wimbledon never truly became ‘Rusedski Ranch’''


When Henman made the controversial decision to retire from the Davis Cup in 2004 to concentrate on Grand Slam tournaments, British tennis was thrown into a period of uncertainty.

Henman had build a strong partnership with Rusedski despite the fact they were not the best of friends, and the duo had taken Team GB into the World Group on several occasions. It would have been very easy for Rusedski to have made the same decision, as he was also reaching the end of his career. But he did not and he knew that British tennis would take a long time to recover if he also left the Davis Cup behind.

Despite his aging body carrying more niggling injuries, he went with the team to play in Israel, Switzerland, Glasgow, Ukraine and finally back to Birmingham for one last home tie.  While on paper this does not look like much, it is important to remember that players must compete in best-of-five-set matches and could even play three of these on consecutive days; no mean feat when your body is falling apart.

What was so enjoyable about Rusedski’s Davis Cup matches were that he was always fighting until the end. Injured against Hicham Arazi in Morocco (on clay in suffocating heat) in 2003 and clearly suffering on court, he gave absolutely everything before falling in four very tight sets. Another highlight was his gruelling and crucial victory against Ukrainian youngster Sergiy Stakhovsky on clay in 2006 was the catalyst for Britain’s up-and-coming World Group play-off against Croatia.

Despite his dedication to British tennis, he never overtook Henman in the popularity stakes. Perhaps one of the key reasons is because he never did as well as Henman at Wimbledon. In Britain, tennis is a part of the public conscience for two weeks a year so Rusedski only making the quarter-finals once was not enough to cement the same ‘glorious loser’ status Henman achieved. Rusedski beating Stakhovsky and essentially saving Great Britain an extra year in tennis exile was never going to get much recognition.

Ironically, Rusedski had quite a few of the attributes that the media were so quick to criticise Tim Henman about. He frequently showed emotion on court (who can forget that wonderful tirade of swearing against Roddick at Wimbledon?), reached the final of a Grand Slam and wore a British flag bandana when his loyalty was questioned after he began to represent Great Britain in the early 1990s.

I cannot think of a more exciting fact than this final one. Yet Henman had something Rusedski did not and will never have - the romantic vision of Britishness that middle-class tennis fans in this country have.

Henman came across as a quiet gentleman, well-spoken with a pretty wife and this endeared him to the legion of so called ‘tennis fans’ in Britain. In many ways this has had a negative affect on the development of the British game because it has reinforced the opinion that tennis is a middle-class game and not accessible to young people across all classes.

Rusedski, a brash player with a Canadian accent, could never displace Tim as No.1 in the hearts of British tennis fans and this is why the ridiculous hill at Wimbledon never truly became ‘Rusedski Ranch’. It will be very interesting to watch the career of Andy Murray, and his relationship with the British public. His persona is very different from the one Henman presented, and has so far not been received well.

Henman has been a wonderful player for Britain in the last ten years, but Rusedski deserves a lot of credit which he is yet to receive. So on September 23, when Henman walks off Court No.1 at Wimbledon for the very last time as a professional, spare a thought for the unsung hero that is Greg Rusedski.

I will never forget meeting him in a Paris hotel in 2004 and asking him about whether he wanted to continue playing Davis Cup for Britain, soon after Henman had retired from the competition. He said he felt it was his responsibility to continue playing as the young players needed a veteran to look up to to develop their games, and that the competition was important for the continued development of British tennis.

This selfless attitude will hopefully pay dividends for tennis in Britain for years to come.

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