Game, set and match

Hopefully Tim can come and work with the younger kids as well. It will be interesting to see what he chooses to do when he officially hangs up his racket.

Quotes of the week

Sky Sports News, Channel 405

Greg Rusedski paid tribute to Tim Henman and hopes that when he retires he will pass on his knowledge to Britain's best young players.

Henman announced that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup tie with Croatia in September and Rusedski, who himself retired in April this year, believes that you know when the time is right.

"He has had a brilliant career," Rusedski told Sky Sports News.

"I think it was the right decision for Tim, obviously physically he wasn't feeling as well as he would like, he's wife is expecting their fourth child and it's probably the right time for him. Thank god he's playing the Davis Cup tie.

"When you watch guys like [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic and Rafael Nadal play you think to yourself 'can I still compete with these guys?'. And when you get to as high as Tim has at number four in the world - four times in the Wimbledon semi-finals - you start to question 'do I still enjoy doing this day in and day out?'

"I think he has said to himself that he can't physically do that. That's one of the reasons why he has decided to move on and change his lifestyle by retiring after the Davis Cup."

Lifestyle Adjustment

Following retirement, many will wonder how he will deal with that change and what will be the next step for Henman. And Rusedski knows exactly what that is like.

"I think it's very difficult because you get the buzz of playing in front of a crowd, winning matches, the adrenalin, all those things that go with playing top tennis. So if you have a good family and support group behind you then you can deal with the challenges and also get back to work as quickly as you can.

"I, myself, found it reasonably easy although I'm missing playing very much at the moment as I have gotten into commentary and working with the younger kids. Hopefully Tim can come and work with the younger kids as well. It will be interesting to see what he chooses to do when he officially hangs up his racket.

"I would love to see him be a part of British tennis and give back because he has done so much for it."

Final curtain

Henman will bow out of the game after the Davis Cup tie with Croatia at Wimbledon next month, which Rusedski feels is the perfect finale to his career.

"I think it's the right place to go and all of Tim's great moments have happened at Wimbledon - in 1996 when he beat [Yevgeny] Kafelnikov, the semi's against Pete Sampras and [Goran] Ivanisevic when he could have got to the final. It's a fitting place for him to finish his career."