Heard this on Sky Sports News before, have to say it will be sad to see him leave, he is the greatest British player of the Open Generation, and I think whilst he is critisized for staying active for too long, he has kept playing in the interest of UK tennis, because the only other half-decent player we have atm is Murray.

Amazingly, the guy has spent his career battling against Osteochondritis, which is a very painful bone disease affecting the joints of the body, which makes his achievements even more remarkable.

Okay, we all know he never had the calibre to beat the greatest players of the modern game, but he was always up there alongside them, and pulled off some great defeats. He also gained the utmost respect from his fellow players, especially from his former training partner Pete Sampras, and was for a decade (bar the year or so Rusedski came into the spotlight) the only hope Britain had and the only active and recongnisable player our young players had to look at as an idol.

BBC News Report

bout time too he's shite

Take it your better then?

Have some respect if your not.

Having been a world number 4, thats not shite in any way.

im well better, just face it mat, being 4th isnt even 2nd best, cant belive your even defending the gimp.

As I said, have a little respect matey, yeah hes not the best in the world and never has been, he has had to work to where he has got to, he doesnt seem to have much in the way of "natural" talent, but considering he has battled against a painful bone disease all his career id says hes done pretty well, he has always played amongst the best players ever to grace the modern game and has been the only real contender that Britain has even had throughout last decade.

It could be said that without him, Tennis as a sport in Britain would have probably died to be honest.

BTW, I dont particuarly follow tennis or Tim Henman, I simply recognise his skill and achievements and the difference he has made to the UK game, the hope he has given millions of Brits over the last decade, the fact he has kept a UK interest in the sport.

he tried his best for 10 yrs, u cant ask for anymore than that, its just a shame that his best wasnt that bit better...

He won 13 professional singles tournaments and and 7 doubles, majority of english people dont give him recognition for his acheivments because we only follow wimbledon which he has never won, neither has he won any of the grand slams.

pmsl

lmao Waddi, good find fella.

I always thought he could do better and in the bigger picture he never delivered what the British wanted.

He should have retired years ago IMO

bye bye Henman

exactly my point mark

If any of you were any better, fair enough, but I havent seen either you achieve success in any sport, so why dont you learn to show a bit of respect?? Being fourth in the world, is an amazing achievement.

When you achieve the same level of success in anything you dimwits put your mind to, then you can have the right to say he's crap.

You are the type of people who would have a sore arm and stay at home because of it rather then train multiple hours every single day and fight the pain to do the thing you love.

And if he had of quit, where would UK tennis be now? There is hardly anyone else in the UK who is keeping the interest in the sport is there?

Matty, i bet you sit there and call loads of footballs players all sorts of names during games etc etc, are you any better than they are - i think not !

pmsl --->> Respect "he is an absolute muppet "

And as Andy says...

I never went down the road of playing Tennis at School,
probably because we didn't have any nets lol
Nor any white shorts.

The British public want winners not 3 or 4th.
All though he had a big following he just couldn't deliver.
And if you cant win Wimbledon for the British people your a looser for the rest of the year.

That's us supporting our sportsman... Were crap supporters unless there is a football involved.

Mark, you are chatting shite as always... for starters the referee isnt a sportmans... and secondly, how does a referee losing all respect because he made two HUGE mistakes during a football game, have anything to do with someones career success?

Yeah I call loads of players names, I dont like any Man Utd players simply because they play for Utd.

But, I have the greatest of respect for the likes of Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Matt Busby, Sir Alex.

I might not like them, but I certainly respect them and recognise what they achieved and how they changed the game.

I also have a respect for the success Man Utd have had over the last 15 years, nobody could ever argue with it.

Im afraid, neither of you seem to have any idea what sport is about. Its NOT always about winning. You are glory grabbers and fickle as fook if you think absolutely everything is about winning or your not interested and the team/player is therefore shite. The aim is to win everything, in practice though it never happens for any team or sportsman.

FFS, Liverpool havent delivered the ONE thing I, and every other fan wants them to for 17 years... there has been many bad years over the last decade, but we dont just stop supporting them, we dont become ashamed to wear our shirts, we simply support them no matter and show respect even when a manager or a player doesnt deliver.

Every fan I know still loves Roy Evans, even though he was nigh on useless as a manager.

Sport also isnt about a single championship or title. Yes, we Liverpool fans want the league back, but we dont forget about the team just because they never win it. They arnt always playing shite, just because the table shows there is a better team. They are one of the best teams in the world, but the simple fact of the matter is, there are even better teams out there.

Sport is also about watching two opponents enterain you by going head to head in a game.

Not everyone can be number 1, but then you probably wouldnt understand that as you will have never supported anyone who isnt number 1.

Oh... remind me when the last time England were 4th in the world in Football exactly?? Hmmm 1997 iirc, they are 12th atm, so I take you wont be supporting them.

R U having a bad Hairman day ?

As i know how to support people and sportsman so you need to think twice about what your posting as your wrong with those statements and accusations.

How am i talking shite?
You ask the majority of people and they will tell you henman was crap, in just the same context as us...

The British want winners and if we don't get them then there always loosers. Jesus when Henman got knocked out of wimbeldon in the early stages the commentators were the first to say were going to have to rename that hill..

And your always the first to cast an opinion so accept that me and andy think Henman is crap.

And possibly mad if he had a bone wasting disease and continued to play tennis, i think he needs his head looking at.

I think because we are older we know alot more about respect Matty so you dont have to point that one out too us.

I think your just having a Bad Hairman day and it will pass loll

Is following and supporting the same thing? As i follow them only for the fact i want them to win like the rest of England. I cant afford to support them they keep going to other countries.

Jeeze its useless trying to talk to you.

You obviously have no respect for anyone, you probably have no self-respect, but then why would you as nobody respects people who cant show respect for other people, especially when these people havent done anything of any significance in their lives either.

This isnt about whether or not he was crap, and he certainly wasnt "crap" as you like to put it. This is about saying goodbye, showing some respect to a sporting legend.

Gary McAllister is a sporting legend, but what exaclty did he do other then when he was at Livepool and playing well in the season we won the treble.

Its easy for you to belittle the achievements of others, especially when you have achevieved so little in you own life.

With the recent death of Tony Wilson, there has been a lot of talk of him. He is a guy who never always agreed with or supported/followed certain people, but always had the utmost respect from everyone within the industries he worked.

He died relatively poor man considering what he did, but he died with the utmost dignity and respect from just about everyone in the industry.

And just because you are older means nothing. It comes back to this again, as it always does with you Mark, because you know so little and its the only argument you can defend your shite with.

So thanks for taking this thread, and trying to make a mockery of someone who has achieved so much and done so much for this country, but you efforts are totally laughable, and anyone with any sense will see this.

When you make a success of your own life/career, come back and let us know about it. Until then, have respect for the people that do.

wow, i cant belive you cant have an opinion thats suits yours mat with out gettin upset mate. you need to chill, take some time off the court, have some straw berries and cream, any wat - advantage mark !

Its not opinions that you are hvaing though. Its the fact you cant have any respect for him as an athlete, as a British athlete, as someone who has done so much for the sport, as someone who has achieved so much against all the odds.

No matter what the opinion of him, you could at least show some respect.

This thread isnt about his latest performance, his next tournament, whether he is crap or not, its about his retirement, a bit of an appreciation thread where no matter how you see his ability, you can just say things like Waddi, yeah he wasnt the best and he didnt win anything like we wanted him to, but he tried his very best every time.

Im sure that behind the smoke screen you are sitting there and thinking, yeah I dont think much of him as a player, but he was a great athlete and did his best, whilst under a lot of public pressure being the only real British contender of his generation.

i do think he is a great athlete and he has got loads more people in to tennis and got kids playing it which has got to be good just a shame he could not do what so many fans wanted and win a major championship

Now now Matty. Your the first to belittle peeps.

If i had ever played Tennis and realised how hard it is to play over a game or what ever then yes i would have respect for a person because i have something as a guide or a gauge.

As it happens i have only played for fun and had a laugh,
so i cant really respect something i have no reference too?

I have played football for 90mins and i was dead, i understand that you get knackard running from one end to the other.
And you legs go all giggly too and you can miss an open goal.

So i have respect for footballers that can and do score goals as its somthing ive done, and missed a sitter.

So its easy right or wrong for me to sit and say Henman was crap,
because i have no scope for judging the achivements he has.

Take your comments about lewis hamilton,
did you take into account his achivements before he got to F1?

So if you can defend Henman you can also explain your comments about Lewis Hamilton and share where your respect is and why you didnt show it.

Dont be piping off about respect when you can not give it,
to others let them be sportsman or just members.

Give respect to others and you will get it in return.

The following i find very disrespect full and wish you would
refrain from talking about stuff you dont know about and thats me.


Yeh what ever lol

Pretty strong stuff there matty but i'm sure i have achived more than you, and got more out of life than you.

Please think about the comments you make as your only making yourself look foolish to everyone with statements like that at the age of 21 years lol...

Matty your having a Hairman Day face it.

Sorry i cant show the respect you want me to about henman but as explained above, i dont play tennis so i cant respect the effort or should i lie?

Please dont post personal insults to fellow members.

Wtf?
Er Calm down guys

quality

sportsmen, they all get paid way too much anyway! can't stand watching any type of sport really, football - crap, tennis - crap. i can appreciate skill and dedication.

other than that its all bollocks!

don't mind abit of touring cars now and then, can watch abit of the extreme sports, like skateboarding, mtb, downhill, trials etc.

chill chill chill

Like I have said earlier, He win 20 tournements in his career, which is great achievement for anyone.

Unfortunatly he never won a grand slam such as Wimbledon which is the only tennis event that the majority of the britsh public, including myself, follow. therefore leading to the common opinion that he was crap.

but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I keep catching this subject in the coner of my eye and reading:

"Heman to announce re"(turn)

I thought they were bringing back the master of the universe and the power of greyskull.

COME ON TIM!

(And mines a Joke lol)

I like what they were saying on Mock the Week about him.....

Frankie Boyle: "Let's not forget, he was once fourth in the world and won 6 grand slams. I think thats a great achievement........for a totally shit player!"

Well just goes to show how much Frankie Boyle knows then when h can't even get the guys achievements right...



Piers Newbery, a BBC Sport correspondant, has written a good article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A26228135


These snippets sum up how good a player he was, never the very best, but always battling alongside them.

Tries to edit the post to include this but the edit time ran out lmao. Here is one final quote which sums up the difference he made for the sport of Tennis in the UK and for the UK public: