He has encouraged his client to liberate his thinking on the court and play to his strengths.A shoulder injury during the build up to the 2002 US Open contributed to a worrying period of weaker serving by Henman, although, on the advice of his former coach, Larry Stefanki, he had already taken a degree of the pace off his serve before the injury occurred.The idea was to improve Henman’s first serve percentage, which had been erratic. As a player, Annacone, in common with many of his compatriots, was not noted for his expertise on clay.None of that matters with regard to Annacone’s association with Henman. He was a semi-finalist at the 1989 French Open, losing to a fellow serve-volleyer, Stefan Edberg, of Sweden, who went on to lose in the final to the American Michael Chang, an indefatigable retriever. When Sampras won the Italian Open in 1994, Becker was his opponent in the final.Henman, who has now equalled Sampras’ best performance of a semi-final appearance here in 1996, was a player baseliners dreamed of being drawn to play on clay at the French Open. Admitting that he had no idea how to play on the surface earlier in his career, the 29-year-old Henman decided that he would be better served playing his natural game on clay than trying to grind out points with the back-court boys.It may seem strange that Henman’s dramatic transformation has taken place with guidance from Paul Annacone, an American coach who spent years trying to help Sampras get a foothold at the French Open.

Ann Jones won in 1966 and 1961 (as Ann Haydon), Christine Truman won in 1959, Shirley Bloomer in 1957, Angela Mortimer in 1955, and Margaret Scriven in 1934 and 1933.. The Breathtaking surprise of Tim Henman’s progress to the semi-finals on the slow clay courts at the French Open was encapsulated by an Irishman, Ossian Shine, of Reuters, who wrote: “Like land-locked Switzerland winning the America’s Cup, this was not meant to happen.” Those unfamiliar with the nuances of tennis, who probably wonder why so much fuss is being made about Henman’s adventures in Paris, where he has achieved nothing more than he has done already four times on the lawns of Wimbledon – the only place where the sport really matters – deserve an explanation. Sue Barker was the last winner, in 1976, defeating the Czech Renata Tomanova. Emerson’s opponent in the final was Pierre Darmon, of France, who eliminated Britain’s Bobby Wilson in the quarter-finals.Roger Taylor, who later became Henman’s Davis Cup captain, advanced to the quarter- finals in Paris in 1973. Taylor lost to Ilie Nastase who went on to win the title.Bill Knight was Britain’s only other quarter-finalist since the Second World War.

Knight lost to Nicola Pietrangeli, of Italy, the eventual champion. In his role as head of men’s national training at the Lawn Tennis Association, Knight was instrumental in Henman’s development.Fred Perry, is the only Briton whose name is prominent in the list of men’s singles champions. The Labour MP’s son from Stockport defeated Gottfried von Cramm, of Germany, in the 1935 final, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Perry lost to von Cramm in the 1936 final, and in the 1937 final Bunny Austin lost to Henner Henkel, of Germany, in straight sets.Perry’s statue graces the All England Club, marking his three consecutive Wimbledon men’s singles titles.