Wimbledon 2019 got under way this week and the championships were back with a bang.
Monday’s action saw 15-year-old American Coco Gauff knock out five-time women’s singles champion Venus Williams in straight sets.
Getty Images – Getty
Meanwhile, 2018 US Open winner, 2019 Australian Open champion and world No.2 Naomi Osaka was sent packing by Yulia Putintseva and there were also upsets in the men’s side of the draw.
As it always is, it’s set to be a fascinating fortnight at SW19 and talkSPORT.com caught up with former British No.1 Tim Henman, who took part in the tournament as a senior player between 1994-2007.
He made the men’s singles semi-finals on four separate occasions including an agonising five-set defeat to Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, however, Henman does have plenty of happy memories at the All England Club.
Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Henman said on his standout memories: “My mum brought me here for the first time when I was six and I was lucky enough to see Bjorn Borg that day and that’s when I knew that was what I wanted to do [for a job].”
getty images – getty
“It’s difficult to pin down one [from my playing career] but if I had to pick I’d say my first match on Centre Court.
“In 1996 I played Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who was the French Open champion, and I managed to beat him 7-5 in the fifth so that was always going to be a day to remember.”
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will take part in this year’s championships, but not in the singles.
The Scot, who has recently made his comeback following hip surgery in January, will feature in the men’s doubles alongside Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and is set to appear in the mixed doubles alongside none other than Serena Williams, who is without question one of the all-time greats of the game.
Murray goes into the tournament having won the doubles title at SW19’s curtain raiser Queen’s with Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Getty Images – Getty
And Henman believes its vital Murray carries on that good momentum from Queen’s.
Henman added: “He had the surgery in January so it’s coming up to six months which is a long time. It’s been great to see him.
“I think doubles is a great stepping stone for him to then come back out on the singles court. This atmosphere can only help him moving forward.
“Murray will have to build momentum from his success at Queen’s but when you’re playing doubles with someone you’ve never played with before it isn’t easy to build that partnership and you’re jumping in the deep end playing at Wimbledon.
“If they can get through the first match then I think they can build momentum.”
LATEST SPORT NEWS
There’s a great deal of British interest at Wimbledon with Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund the nation’s No.1 players in the women’s singles and men’s singles draws respectively.
Konta got her campaign underway with a 7-5 6-2 victory against Ana Bogdan on Tuesday, while Edmund made it safely through to the second round with a straight sets win over Jaume Munar.
Konta reached the semi-finals in 2017 and has been in good form this year having reached the last four at the French Open.
And Henman believes Konta should go into these championships with confidence.
He said: “I think Konta’s played great this year. If you look at her performances on the clay – she made the final in Morocco, the final of the Italian Open and the semis at the French Open.
getty images – getty
“She’s got a lot of matches under her belt and a lot of confidence from that and I think grass is a good surface for her. She’s not the favourite to win the tournament but she’s been in the semis before.
“You can’t win the tournament in the first week but you can certainly lose it. She has to go through it one match at a time and when she gets through the first week there’s no reason why she can’t have a big run in the second week.”
And on Edmund, Henman said: “It was a good performance – the first match in any tournament is never easy. Playing on Centre Court as the home player leads to an added amount of expectation and to win in straight sets is a really good start.
“When you think of his ranking then you can split the tournament in half – the first week and the second week. If he can get into the second week then that would be a good effort but he’s got some difficult matches ahead of him.
“He faces Fernando Verdasco in the second round and that won’t be easy as Verdasco has a lot of experience. It’s going to be a tight match but I think Edmund will win.”
Getty Images – Getty
One Brit who is making headlines on the junior circuit is Paul Jubb, the Kingston-born teenager who is currently honing his skills at the University of South Carolina.
The 19-year-old won the singles title at the 2019 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship earlier this year to follow in the footsteps of some of the greats of the game, including John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.
It was a feat that neither Henman nor Murray achieved as youngsters and Jubb’s form earned him a wildcard entry into the main draw at Wimbledon.
Henman admits Jubb has ‘enormous potential’ but was not getting carried away when asked about how far he can go.
He said: “When you try and quantify your success, success is about maximising your potential and he’s got enormous potential. How far he can go, we don’t know but that’s something he’s got to find out.
“But with winning the NCAA’s and getting in the main draw, he’s got an opportunity. He’s very young, very inexperienced at tour level so his attitude should be ‘there’s nothing to lose but an enormous amount to gain’.”
Jubb will fancy his chances against Portuguese opponent Joao Sousa, particularly considering how sixth seed Alexander Zverev and seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas were knocked out on Monday.
However, despite the surprises on day one of the tournament, Henman is in no doubt the winner of the men’s singles title will be one of the big three: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
Getty Images – Getty
He added: “I’d be very surprised if the winner came outside of those three.
“I’d give the edge to Djokovic. When you look at his performances over the Grand Slams over the last twelve months he’s been incredibly consistent. He’s the defending champion too.”
Tim Henman and Lindsay Davenport are ambassadors for HSBC, who are supporters of Wimbledon and the Ticket Resale Scheme. More info can be found here.
Source: TalkSport.com Tennis
