Tennis: Accent on success for Britain's leading men

The accent is on "Our Greg" Rusedski, born and raised in Canada yet garnering the year's British sports personality awards. Is that likely to turn Oxford's own Tim Henman into Mr Nasty? John Roberts reflects on an extraordinary tennis season.

Sir Geoffrey Cass, president of the Lawn Tennis Association during this year of high drama, received his knighthood for his work as chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In Shakespeare's time, tennis balls were made of white leather, stuffed with hair ("...the old ornament of his cheek hath already stuffed tennis- balls"). Much Ado About Nothing? Not with Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman on the scene. Sir Geoffrey might even agree that the pair evoke the spirit of Henry V.

Act 1, Scene 2. Ambassadors of France bring a gift from the Dauphin, implying that the young king ought not to indulge in grown-up pursuits such as going to war over the claim of dukedoms in France.

King Henry: What treasure, uncle?

Duke of Exeter: Tennis-balls, my liege.

King Henry: When we have matched our rackets to these balls, we will in France, by God's grace, play a set that shall strike his father's crown into the hazard.

What say you? Do we cavil over an incongruous voice, one reminiscent of Marlon Brando's Mark Antony or of Sylvester Stallone auditioning for Hamlet ("To be, or what?")?

Our Greg still cannot be certain that he has been accepted as one of us, especially when he makes acceptance speeches. It is not what he says, but the way that he says it.

The recipient of every possible British sports personality of the year award, Rusedski has something in common with Fred Perry, the last great British male tennis player. He speaks with a transatlantic accent.

Perry acquired a north American drawl during his successful career as a professional after turning his back on the amateur game following his third consecutive Wimbledon singles title in 1936. Vocal links to Perry's Stockport birthplace and his upbringing on the Wirral and in north London gradually disappeared, a process hastened after he took United States citizenship.

Long before that, Perry brought honour to his native land, winning each of the four Grand Slam titles and inspiring Britain to four consecutive Davis Cup triumphs. He was Our Fred even when he lived in Hollywood or Florida.

Rusedski was born and raised in Montreal and is of Ukrainian descent. His mother was born in Yorkshire, hence his British passport. Although brought up in the Canadian tennis system, with additional private coaching in the United States paid for by his father's re-mortgaging of the family home, he declined to play for the Canandian Davis Cup team. Nobody could fairly say that Rusedski has not done his best to integrate since committing himself to the British cause in 1995. Indeed, he has sometimes tried too hard to ingratiate, by wearing a Union Jack bandanna on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, for example, which provoked huge groans in the locker-room.

Judging by the votes of television viewers in the personality polls, Rusedski has scored with the British public as well as the media. The novelty of having a tennis representative up their among the best is too good to resist, whatever the fellow's origins.

Henman, runner-up to Rusedski for the BBC award, is as Oxford as the dictionary and plays his tennis in a classical serve-volley style. Henman was recently treated to some impromptu theatrical coaching by John McEnroe (angry young man a speciality).

Having urged Henman to "get your arse out there working", which seemed rich coming from a player whose notion of training was to play doubles, McEnroe advised the British No 2 to become mean and nasty on the court.

Henman agreed to show more aggression and emotion in his matches, although there appears to be little wrong with his natural approach that the elimination of lapses of concentration every few service games would not rectify. Should his motivation show signs of slacking, whisper "Rusedski" in his ear (in Rusedski's case, whisper "Henman").

In spite of injuries after the first few months of the year, both players made progress, Rusedski spectacularly, advancing to the final of the United States Open (delivering a record 143 mph serve in the process), and qualifying for the eight-man ATP Tour Championship. Both players were quarter-finalists at Wimbledon.

Rusedski won ATP Tour events at Nottingham and Basle, and became the first British man to be ranked in the world's top 10. He ended the year at No 6, having climbed as high as No 4.

Henman won titles in Sydney and Tashkent and ended the year ranked No 17 in the world, having reached a career-high No 14, and won the Guardian Direct National Championship for a third consecutive year.

Thriving on their British rivalry, they acknowledge that neither would have done so well had Rusedski remained in Canada. So we are agreed. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this adopted son of Dewsbury. Or words to that effect.