Henman a victim of unhealthy Wimbledon hype

A few weeks ago, seeking further education in sport and with an investment also in mind, I consulted a tennis coach about Tim Henman's chances of winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon. Bearing in mind the confessed ignorance of his pupil, this fellow didn't touch on any technical detail, confining himself to the remark that Henman is good but not good enough.

Thinking for a moment, he then added: "Even if Tim proves to have the game he's unlikely to survive the clamour of national expectation". As Henman approached a semi-final against Goran Ivanisevic, that clamour reached absurd proportions in newspapers and across the airwaves, as though defeat for our man would plunge the nation into mourning. It caused some older members of this brotherhood to recall the words of a famously hard-bitten American sportswriter Jimmy Cannon, who was in a wheelchair, stricken by a stroke but still strong and brave when he said: "Sportswriting has survived because of the guys who don't cheer".

What, one wonders, would Cannon have made of a report that tears were shed in the Wimbledon press box when Henman lost to Ivanisevic? Proof perhaps that editorial belief today is not primarily in balance or even reaching fair conclusions; that constructive cynicism has no currency. Who among the army of British reporters and commentators at Wimbledon dared to question Henman's potential? "We all want Tim to win because we love him," the BBC television presenter Sue Barker said. At work there is gushing journalism and all that goes with that. Excess. Exaggeration. Valentines. Love letters.

The first victim is reasoned discourse and reporting. Inevitably, to my mind, Henman buckled under the pressure of expectation. It was not so much Ivanisevic's lightning bolt of a serve or the rain disruptions that brought him down but rampant nationalism.

"If Tim wins it will be the greatest English victory in sport since the 1966 World Cup final," a patriot said when interviewed on television. Really. Greater than Steve Redgrave's monumental Olympic achievements, Sebastian Coe's back-to-back gold medals in the Olympic 1500 metres, Lennox Lewis becoming the first English-born heavyweight to hold the undisputed world championship in more than 100 years?

But that's Wimbledon. Land of hope and glory and phoney protocol. Creaking tradition held in place by modern marketing and corporate activity. And always the yearning for a British, preferably an English winner. I have not been there for many years, not since one of England's greatest sporting heroes Bobby Moore was snubbed by a snooty, ageing female in the press office when sent to help cover the championships for a Sunday newspaper.

What we have to hold in mind is that many sportswriters and commentators are constantly instructed to produce up-beat reporting. "Anyone who played down Henman's chances, said or wrote anything to suggest that he wasn't up to the task, technically or mentally, was asking for trouble," a friend said. "The rule in most newspaper and broadcasting offices is that public optimism must be fed."

As the media men say, TV makes every living room an arena. If that's what you want for your living room, televised sport can be thrilling. A good director shows aspects you cannot see at the scene: lips moving in profanity, a winner's glower, a loser's tears. But TV confuses people by forever mixing the true with the false. "Do you want me to lose my job?" a commentator once said when called to account for giving more credence to a prizefight than it remotely deserved.

Without question we stand in the middle of a sports boom. More matches, greater attendance. Better athletes. Sky-high salaries and prize money. Enormous transfer fees in football. Precisely where we stand in sports coverage is less apparent. Curiously, even people who demand harsh film criticism and like their political reporting merciless accept a view of sport that panders to insularity, a lingering conviction of international, and natural superiority.

No sooner had the England cricket team arrested decline than they were given a real chance of regaining the Ashes from Australia. National coverage of the build up to the British Grand Prix this weekend will centre on David Coulthard's chances. Can a British golfer come through to win next week's Open?

Such pre-occupation is understandable. But at Wimbledon it gets unhealthy. In a final that rose above understanding of technical merit, Ivanisevic triumphed over the splendid Pat Rafter. Back home in Split the winner received a rapturous welcome. The difference was that, unlike Henman, few, if any of the Croat's compatriots expected him to win.